It Is So Hard to Say Goodbye: LAI Instructor Bids Farewell To LAI And Reflects On Her Time With The Organization.

Well of course this isn't the first Monday I haven't been to LAI, but it is definitely different.  I was not sad until I walked into the doors here at work last Wednesday.  It hit me that nothing I ever do will fill me with the joy that LAI has.  That made me sad.  Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful and blessed to have a good job.  It pays well, but it lacks on the fulfilling meter.  There were times I was leaving LAI when I had to stop myself from doing the running man and the cabbage patch on the way to my car.  I felt that good.

Back in 2010, it was important for me to find an outlet to actually use my graduate degree, as I was not going to be positioned to get to do so in my full time work.  I sought out part time opportunities.  I had a major disappointment a few months before my interview with LAI. I actually cried because I really wanted that job.  I thought it was perfect.  Looking back now, I am so grateful and blessed that the other opportunity did not work out.  That would have just been a part time job, and it would not have made an impact in my life the way LAI has. 

The other day, a student asked if I made the sandwiches that I brought in on the last day.  I gave her a look as to say, now you know good and well I don't cook.  She said, "You tell us that we can do whatever we set our minds to, so I know that you can if you want to."  Now how is that for a natural high?

I want to just thank you all for everything.  What you do is really important, because it impacts peoples lives in a positive way.  Even when you have a bad day, when you get home and take off your shoes, you know that at some point in the day you did something for someone else that really has meaning. If you think about it, the number of people that can say that at the end of the day is getting smaller and smaller.

I expect to return to LAI.  I am not quite sure when at this very moment, but I have a feeling things will work out so that I can. 

So it really isn't a goodbye, just so long for a minute. 

Miss y'all already--
Lisa Conely, Former LAI Reading 4 Instructor

Sent Monday August 22, 2011

(Left to Right) Lisa Conley with LAI Student

Community Matters: Literacy Action Meets with the Chairman of Fulton County Board of Commissioners

On August 18, 2011, Literacy Action met with Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chairman, John Eaves, in an effort to continue the community discussion on eradicating adult low-literacy.

LAI President and CEO, Karen Webster Parks, and Chairman John Eaves.

LAI President and CEO, Karen Webster Parks and LAI Board Members, David Peterson (chair), Chris Miller and JaKathryn Ross, sat down with Chairman Eaves and Director of Constituent Services, Aaron Johnson, to discuss the astonishing number of low-literate Atlantans, how these numbers impact the community and what Literacy Action is doing to end the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy.

Director of Constituent Services, Aaron Johnson, and LAI Board Member, Chris Miller.

With more than 800,000 adults in metro Atlanta considered functionally illiterate, this issue is heavily connected to many social ills that plague not only our city, but nation as a whole. Issues such as unemployment, poverty and crime would be far less detrimental with an educated population.

LAI Board Member, JaKathryn Ross and LAI Board Chair, Dave Peterson.

 Literacy Action is confident that by educating the public on this issue, we as a community will not only be able to change the lives of low-literate adults, but make a dramatic impact on generations to come.

Join us in making the change today!

Chris Miller, Karen Webster Parks, Dave Peterson, Chairman John Eaves, JaKathryn Ross, Aaron Johnson