MLC and the Minnesota Twins

Photo courtesy of Bing Images

The Minnesota Literacy Council, together with its partner, Rasmussen College, will staff an information table at four Twins games this summer.  If you're coming to the game, find us to learn about exciting opportunities for volunteering in literacy programs throughout the state.

We'll be attending games on June 29th, July 20th, August 22nd, and August 24th.  Hope to see you there.  Go Twins!

Join MLC at Twin Cities World Refugee Day



Photo courtesy of http://tcworldrefugeeday.org/













The Minnesota Literacy Council will be at Minnehaha Park for the Twin Cities World Refugee Day this Saturday, June 25th, from 12:00pm to 6:00pm.  Look for us in the Communnity Resource Fair Tent near the bandstand. 

Come by to help Minnesota recognize its more than 100,000 refugees.  The event raises awareness of opportunities and issues refugees face when resettling, and creates an opportunity for longtime Minnesotans to build a cultural bridge with some of their newest neighbors.

Bradley Craig, June's Literacy Leader

For the last seven years, Bradley Craig has been tutoring adults at the Grace ABE program in Apple Valley. He began tutoring immigrant adults in English as a Second Language, and last fall he also started tutoring adult GED students in math. During his two volunteer shifts each week, Bradley helps students individually and supplements the licensed classroom teachers’ lessons. When Bradley works with the GED students on math problem-solving, he asks the students to take turns explaining the steps to derive the answers. He finds ways to relate what his students are learning to practical situations or current events.

Bradley and the teachers he works with share a great mutual respect for each other. Bradley writes that “the professionals for whom I work respect my outside experience and relate to me more like a peer than as a helper, so I feel like I’m delivering value to them as well as the students.” The teachers describe “his strong work ethic, loyalty to the students he works with, and willingness to go beyond the volunteer role to make a difference in the lives of students.” One teacher writes that Bradley’s “patience is endless and his calm nature creates a comfortable learning environment. He truly enjoys the subject matter and that enthusiasm has rubbed off on the students. Students he has worked with have shown great improvement and have moved up levels.”

When describing the impact that volunteering has had on him, Bradley says, “I’ve met so many interesting, hard-working people. My eyes have been opened to the richness that immigrants bring to our country. It is rewarding to help people to learn our language and our customs, as well as to help some get a step closer to becoming citizens.”

Bradley’s students wanted to share their appreciation as well. One writes, "Thank you for donating your time to make us better for the future." Another says, “I am happy to study with Brad and appreciate what he does for the school.”

Thanks, Bradley, for the great work you’re doing!

Save the date for MLC's next Movie Night - July 11

All volunteers and those interested in literacy volunteering are invited to a free movie night:

We'll be showing "Brother Towns"

When: Monday, July 11, from 6:30 - 8:30 pm

Where: Minnesota Literacy Council's main office

             700 Raymond Ave, Ste. 180, St. Paul 55114 see map

                                                                       

Photo courtesy of "Brother Towns" website

Brother Towns, by Pueblos Hermanos, is a documentary about facing the challenges and benefits associated with immigration.  The film treats the topic from the perspectives of two towns, one in Guatemala, one in Florida, illustrating what it’s like – and why it becomes necessary – to uproot and travel to a distant place. 

The movie will be presented by John Gutterman from the Advocates for Human Rights.   Discussion and resource sharing will follow.

Family and friends are welcome.  Light refreshments will be served.

Please RSVP to arunchey@themlc.org with the number of persons in your party.

Interested in finding out more about MLC?

Join us for MLC's Beyond Books -  Literacy Mingle and Open House!

 

Whether you're new to the Minnesota Literacy Council or a longtime literacy advocate, our new Beyond Books events have something for you! Join us to discuss what literacy means in this day and age and how the literacy council is meeting the need for literacy programs and services. There will be light snacks to enjoy as you peruse stations and learn what's new in literacy programming this year.

  

Thursday, June 9, 2011 from 5:00-6:30pm

MLC main office, 700 Raymond Avenue, Suite 180, St. Paul 55114 (map).

Beyond Books open houses are free events -- not fundraisers. June's session features a slight twist, however -- the prize drawing for the organization's annual raffle! Tickets will be available for purchase prior to the 6 p.m. drawing, but you won't be pressured to enter.

Can't make it next Thursday? Then, mark your calendar for Tuesday, August 9, 2011 - the next Beyond Books event!

My Favorite Part of Volunteering

As a CLUES volunteer I had to travel across town in rush hour traffic to make it to my volunteer class on time. Driving through rush hour is no fun, especially considering the road construction on the 62/35W exchange. I would arrive to CLUES around 6pm tired and tense. When I got there, I’d have to quickly organize the worksheets, make copies, and gather materials together for my 6:30 class. The CLUES volunteer coordinator, Angela, was always very helpful, and she was good at checking in with the group of volunteers to make sure we had everything we needed. With her help, I always managed to prepare for my class in time, though I was usually a little flustered going in.

When I started to teach my small class of students, I began to relax and loosen up. As my students and I settled into class, my stress seemed to unwind itself. My class would usually joke around, and we had fun with the activities. By the end of class I seemed to have forgotten my own stresses/problems and replaced them with positive energy and optimism. Watching my students learn and knowing that I was helping them learn English, which is something essential to their livelihood, was extremely rewarding and it made me feel good.

The good feeling and energy that you gain from helping adults learn English is one of the things I enjoyed most about volunteering. In my job at the Minnesota Literacy Council, I’ve had the opportunity to speak with and hear from many literacy volunteers, and they have reminded me of this feeling. I’ve realized that many volunteers notice it. It’s neat to discover that this is something that many of us share as literacy volunteers.

Guest Blog Post: Beata at MLC Arlington Hills

My name is Beata and I have been volunteer teaching ESL classes at the Arlington Hills Learning Center since September 2010. A few months ago my students and I were talking about Halloween in the United States and one of my Spanish speaking students shared with me that the word for haunted house in Spanish was called Casa de la Bruja. I repeated this phrase a couple of times in my mind. It seemed easy to me and I thought I memorized it but by the time I got home that night I had already forgotten it.

These were only a few new words and I couldn’t believe I didn’t remember them. This made me realize that learning a foreign language is not as easy as some may think and even the easiest thing can be a challenge. English is my second language too but throughout the years I have forgotten how tough it was for me to learn it at times and I have been taking for granted the ability to speak the language. This experience put things into perspective for me and made me realize that learning a few words in a new language is not that easy. I appreciate my student’s efforts and hard work a lot more. I admire my students and value them and am amazed by how hard they try and learn English. During the class I’ve been spending a lot more time on new vocabulary. On that one cold October night I learned that remembering a few words in a new language is not as easy as it seems.