How Maddy Reads It-Part 3

How Maddy Reads It

      Hey, friends! It’s the second week of the campaign, Save a Cup. Give a Hand Up., and I am really excited about it! You’ve probably noticed that we’re talking about this new campaign all over the Internet!  Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, our blog, and our website are all busy with ‘Save a Cup’ updates and daily photos! This campaign is all about social media, and spreading the word through a multitude of different sites and resources. We are even encouraging everyone who participates to snap a “show us your mug photo” of themselves with their new Literacy Action Inc. mug and post it online! Over the past decade, the internet has become one of the main sources for information and communication for people around the world. It’s how families pay their bills, students register for classes, friends communicate, jobs are found, videos are posted, and lives are shared. I bet you’d be surprised to find that, even in this day in age, there is a large group of people here in Atlanta who have never even seen the Internet.

I was sitting in a Computer 1 class just the other week. This class is for LAI students who have little to no experience with computers, and are looking to gain the basic and daily functions of a computer. I was fortunate enough to be in the particular class where the 12 adult students opened internet explorer for the first time!  Many of them were very excited and eager to explore all the web had to offer.   Nevertheless, some were confused, still unable to grasp the concept of the World Wide Web. 

As a college student, the internet is absolutely vital to each and every aspect of my daily life. I use it to register, to read assignments, to check updates from my professors, and to even take tests. The internet is how I make doctor’s appointments at the student clinic when I’m sick, and it’s how I apply for campus jobs and internships. So where would I be without my knowledge of computers? That’s a reality I haven’t had to face. For some students here at LAI, it’s an everyday struggle.

My hope for the Save a Cup, Give a Hand Up campaign is that it further raises awareness and a sense of urgency to the problem of adult low-literacy. By the use of social media and the internet, I hope that this campaign reaches out to people across the city, state, and nation. So, don’t forget to support the effort to end low-literacy by purchasing a LAI mug and posting a photo of you and your mug onto Facebook or Twitter for everyone to see!

http://www.literacyaction.org

How Maddy Reads It-Part 2

 

How Maddy Reads It

      Hello again! I hope everyone had a wonderful Fourth of July. The Fourth of July is one of my favorite holidays, as it makes me so proud to live in a country where opportunity awaits us at every door, no matter who we are. It also makes me think about uniting together with one common goal, for the betterment of our community.  That’s the premise of Literacy Action Inc.’s new campaign, Save a Cup. Give a Hand Up. Last week, LAI launched this campaign to help bring adult low-literacy to the forefront as a major issue in our community.

     I started thinking about this money in coffee terms, and I realized that a $10 donation a month would be equal to only two Starbucks coffees! So if twice a month I sacrificed a Soy Chai Latte and donated the ten dollars, I could be providing the students and teachers at LAI with stuff way more valuable than a cup of coffee. Those ten dollars can provide teachers with markers and pencils for class, or help the staff get folders and labels to build student portfolios and track their progress.  It will even provide testing to 5 students!

      I think this new campaign is a great idea, and I’m excited to see where it goes!  The population of metro Atlanta in 2012 is 5,475,213. Imagine if half of those people donated ten dollars a month for a whole year. That would be over 328 million dollars! And while in all likelihood that will not happen, it just goes to show that every little bit matters. So I encourage everyone to think about this the next time they’re buying a coffee, a pack of gum, or a candy bar. Could that small amount of change effect big change in your community?

You can get your very own Literacy Action mug by donating $100 one time, or $10 a month for a year.

Click here to join the Save a Cup. Give a Hand Up. campaign!

Once you join, visit our social media sites with a “Show Us Your Mug”!

How Maddy Reads It - Part I

How Maddy Reads It

  **Look for my weekly blog series every Wednesday through July 18^th**

 My name is Madeline Driscoll-Miller, and I am an intern at Literacy Action. I recently completed my freshman year at George Washington University and returned home for the summer. Coming home for three months after being away for almost a year was stressful, and I knew that I would need some type of summer job. However, I wanted to find something meaningful, something that would give me real world work experience. When my dad told me about Literacy Action, Inc. and what they do, I knew it was the place for me. My sorority’s main philanthropy just so happens to be literacy, mainly childhood literacy. I thought that LAI and their focus on adult literacy could give me a whole new perspective on the issue. So after sending in my resume and having a phone interview, I finally got to visit LAI on my spring break. That’s when I really became excited for the summer.

    On an average day, I spend most of time in the back offices at LAI, helping the staff with daily tasks such as filing, organizing, research, etc. Monotonous tasks like that can pretty much be the name of the game for the life of an intern, but not for me. Yesterday, I had the chance to observe a Math 2 Class. It was a small class, only eight students; six women and two men. I sat in the back of the class, not wanting to disturb their normal routine. The instructor, Ms. Dawn, started the class out with a fun activity. The students had to throw a magnet at a target. Whichever number their magnet landed on was the amount of fake money they would collect. With their newfound money, the students were to take a catalog from the table and shop. The catalogs were from stores that most people shop at on a regular basis, Publix and Family Dollar to name a few. After they “shopped” for about ten minutes, they wrote their total amount of money collected, and total amount spent on the board for everyone else to see. The whole class was centered on this one activity, with every problem reverting back to that exercise.

     The first problem Ms. Dawn gave the students was figuring out the mean, median, mode, and range of the total money collected. This is when I had a real “light bulb” moment. I remember first learning the concepts of mean, median, mode, and range in sixth grade, not even twelve years old. As I sat in the back of the room observing the students, I noticed one huge difference between them and my sixth grade class. These eight adults were more diligent and adamant about solving the problem than any of my classes. I could tell they all wanted to be there and to better themselves. When one student finished her work, she proceeded to walk around the room to help all of her classmates. While the material may have been a sixth grade level, the attitude and atmosphere was much more mature. These adults, for whatever reasons, missed out on pieces of their education as children and young adults. With a second chance at creating a better life for themselves and their loved ones, they give 100%.

     I hope to be able to observe more of these classes during my time here at LAI. The staff and teachers work incredibly hard every single day to make LAI possible. And it’s moments like that, in classroom 5, when all the work that goes into successfully running a small nonprofit makes sense. When I see these adults so happy to be learning, and so thankful to have this opportunity, I am even more grateful to have the privilege to spend my summer at LAI.

  

Moving Forward in 2012: LAI Welcomes New Interim President & CEO

On January 3rd, LAI welcomed James (Jim) O. Rodgers as interim President & CEO. Following the resignation of former President & CEO, Karen Webster Parks, Rodgers quickly stepped in to maintain LAI's energetic momentum.

LAI Board Chair, Dave Peterson, states, "Karen brought leadership, energy, and many new ideas to LAI, and we know she will continue to be a positive force for literacy in our community and in our state...We are delighted to have Jim lead LAI into its next stage of development."

Upon her departure, Webster Parks commented, "I am thankful for the opportunity to have served LAI. Although we accomplished quite a bit during my tenure as CEO, the ultimate goal is to eradicate the need for services LAI provides, so there is still much work to be done."

Rodgers, a former BellSouth executive, has 24 years of experience as a certified management consultant specializing in human capital management and has served on several local nonprofits, including Habitat for Humanity and the Atlanta Symphony. Through his service as a LAI Board Member and Chairman of the Literacy Alliance of Metro Atlanta (LAMA) Steering Committee, Jim has become all too familiar with the crippling reality of adult low literacy in Metro Atlanta and Georgia.

With nearly 1.7 million Georgian adults (900,000 adults in metro Atlanta alone) with limited reading, writing, and/or math skills, it is imperative that LAI continues to focus on developing creative ways to be more effective and efficient in order to extend our reach.

Welcome, Jim, and thank you for helping us carry out our mission!

To learn more about Literacy Action and how to get involved, visit: www.literacyaction.org

To learn more about the Literacy Alliance of Metro Atlanta, visit: http://literacyallianceatlanta.org/

Keep Snapping!: More Poetry from LAI's Book Club

Did you enjoy our last poem? Here are more videos from the Book Club Poetry Reading!

Snaps for Poetry: LAI Book Club Hosts Poetry Reading

Part of our job at Literacy Action is to expose students to different forms of learning, experiences and expression. Today, students in our Thursday Book Club read original works of poetry to their fellow classmates and guests.  Following each reading, guests were able to give feedback and ask questions about each poem.  Many of our staff was in attendance and to see the level of bravery and conviction our students possess is inspiring.

Listen to our students read their poems and let us know what you think via Facebook and Twitter!

Stay tuned for more videos!



Friends in the Community: LAI Meets with Atlanta Business League President and CEO, Leona Barr-Davenport

At Literacy Action, we believe that community partnerships and collaboration is critical to ensure that adequate services and opportunities are available to all. On November 2, 2011, LAI President and CEO, Karen Webster Parks, with LAI Board Members, Dave Peterson and James Rodgers, met with Atlanta Business League President and CEO, Leona Barr-Davenport, to discuss adult literacy and its impact on our community.

Left to right: Karen Webster Parks, Dave Peterson, Leona Barr-Davenport and James Rodgers.

Adult low-literacy does not affect one person; it impacts an entire community.  Our vision is to build better futures by teaching low-literate adults literacy and life skills, so that they are able to reach their full potential and become self-sufficient individuals, parents, employees and citizens. With community partners, we are confident that we can achieve this goal and much more.