Get Literate!

John Scalzi's Assignment for his Monday Photo Shoot is up.  And it's one of my favorite topics, literacy.  I've gone with two photos this time. 

#1  Amy and Kari's hall closet.  They have moved out, and yet the remnants of their childhood within this home remain.  Oh, Amy is now a teacher; she teaches 1st and 2nd grade at a Catholic school in a local farming town.  Guess you could title this photo "Where future teacher's come from."

#2 Another childhood revisited.  That's me reading to my younger sister, Chris in 1967.

Literacy is a very important topic.  Between 1990 and 1992 I volunteered four hours a week, every week, at the Adult Basic Education literacy program.  Of all the volunteer work I have ever done, my time spent in the literacy program was the most rewarding.  My first student wanted to pass the GED (General Education Diploma) exam, and was struggling with the English component.  On her first exam she scored a 54 percent; needless to say she was disheartened and frustrated.  I was assigned to work with her and the first thing she wanted to cover was poetry.  She just didn't get it.  Today, I can't recall exactly what I told her or how I explained it, but after she seemed to understand.  I spent about an hour with her.  Two days later, she retook the English component, and passed...with a score of 79 percent!  :D  When the instructor passed the news on to me, I was thrilled, and knew I was in the right place at the right time!  Over the next two years I worked with many students, and only quit when Kari asked me if I would.  Back then, I had a full-time job, a part-time job, and the literacy program.  Over time, I tapered my activities back to just the full-time job so I could be available to Sam and the girls.

Why did I get involved in literacy in the first place?  Simple.  I was writing a book and a part of me felt that it wouldn't do any good to write a book if my target audience could not read.  And, maybe it was my way of putting something good out there.  I have always loved books and reading.  The thought that someone could be missing out on so much...well, to me it was just unacceptable.  I wanted to change that, so I did.