The Literacy Council staff attended a presentation on Jan. 27 by the Anti-Defamation League. The organization was founded in 1913 “to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all.” Now the nation’s premier civil rights/human relations agency, ADL fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights for all.

The Anti-Defamation League, Buncombe County’s Sheriff Van Duncan, and Asheville’s Chief of Police Tammy Hooper provided information at the meeting about how to a) report an anti-Semitic, racist or bigoted incident and receive victim support and b) educate children at school and home to reject bias.

Please use these resources with your Literacy Council students, at home, and in the community.

Reporting an Incident & Seeking Victim Support

If one of your students or someone you know is the victim of a hate incident, these resources will help them report the incident and receive victim support.

First, in addition to hate crimes, “racial intimidation” (unprovoked hate speech aimed at intimidation, including racial slurs) is also prosecutable offense that should be reported to law enforcement. It is best reported by the victim, but can be reported by a witness.

• In an emergency, always call 911
• For non-emergencies in Asheville city limits, report to: 828-252-1110 (any language)
• For non-emergencies in Buncombe County, report to: 828-250-6670 (English) or 828-250-4542 (Spanish)

Additionally, any form of hate incident should be reported to the Anti-Defamation League, who reports data on hate incidents nationally and regionally. They will provide optional support to victims who report hate incidents.

• Click here or call 212-885-7700 to report an incident with ADL and receive victim support 
• Click here if you would like to also report the incident to the Southern Poverty Law Center to aid in their work monitoring incidents in our region

Educating Children to Reject Bias

The Anti-Defamation League has online resources for educators, parents, and caregivers to teach children and youth to reject bias and embrace diversity.

K-12 Educators and Administrators

The anti-bias curriculum helps students develop an understanding of diverse perspectives, strengthen critical thinking skills, challenge the development of emerging biases, and build skills and motivation to take action against injustice. Resources include:

• lesson plans on current events (ex: the Presidential inauguration, “fake news,” and cyberbullying), 
• essays from other teachers nationwide on anti-bias education in practice , and
• classroom tips and strategies 

Parents and Caregivers

These resources help parents and caregivers “create a home life that recognizes the diversity of our world, addresses bullying, opposes bias, and in small and large ways, challenges those injustices.” Resources include:

• anti-bias tools and strategies, such as pointers for how to challenge biased language 
• Table Talk: topics to launch family conversations about current events 
• Books Matter: a list of books about bias, diversity, and social justice 

The Literacy Council hosted a Scrabble Night on Thursday, February 2nd in honor of National Literacy Action Week, an initiative to strengthen literacy activism in local communities. During the week-long celebration, literacy programs across the nation join together to raise awareness about literacy and create change on college campuses and within the greater community. 

From Competitive Scrabble to Informal Bananagrams

Dr. Bill Snoddy and Jacob Cohen of the Asheville Scrabble Club partnered with the Literacy Council to provide necessary gear including game boards, racks, tiles, clocks, and score sheets for tournament style play. Their Scrabble expertise helped create a competitive environment for players both new and experienced to test the limits of official game rules. Limited to only 25 minutes of play, challengers had to think about word choices quickly and were subject to an electronic word judge program called Zyzzyva to make decisions fairly.

For participants who were uninterested in Scrabble, there was a wide selection of other word games to choose from, including Upwords, Boggle, Apples to Apples, Bananagrams, and Sentence Cubes.

While the Scrabble Night event was offered as a way to engage the community in fun literacy activities, there was also plenty of time for reflection on the impact of literacy in every day life. Volunteers and literacy advocates in the community shared why literacy was important to them by writing responses on a dry erase board.

Literacy is Important to Me Because…

The Student Coalition for Action in Literacy Education (SCALE) collected responses like the one pictured as part of a social media campaign for National Literacy Action Week. Individuals could submit their pictures for a chance to win a free t-shirt and other prizes over the course of the week. SCALE also offered two free webinars: “Why Literacy Matters” and “Race Based Conversations with Kids Matter”.

Words (and Photos) with Friends

For more photos of Scrabble Night, scroll through our image gallery below or share your own on our Facebook page!

       

 

 

 

 

 

You already know that you impact your students’ lives. You see it in their improved skills, increased self-confidence, and achievement of personal goals.

But you may not have known that you also impact the Literacy Council’s funding and sustainability every time you turn in your hours and assign a post-test or CASAS test.

Our Federal Funding is Outcomes-Based

Did you know that the Literacy Council receives over $100,000 annually (about a third of our overall budget) from the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA)? In North Carolina, this funding is administered by the NC Community College System. It funds our Adult Education and ESOL programs, which serve 275-300 students per year.

For the past four years, the amount of funding that we have received is related to two factors: a) an annual grant application, and b) student outcomes from the previous year.

Next year, our organization will receive base funds and bonuses when our students are successful in:

• Attending class regularly
• Improving post-test scores
• Earning a High School Equivalency diploma (like a GED)
• Enrolling in post-secondary education (like an AB Tech certificate course) after leaving the Literacy Council.

The legislation also requires that we work with students on preparing for the workforce and getting jobs, though our funding is not dependent on this.

Our Tutors and Students Produce Some of the Best Outcomes in the State

The NC Community College System provides WIOA funds to literacy councils and community colleges across the state, serving a total of 86,000 students. Here’s how we stacked up in 2015/16:

• The state recommends that literacy council students receive an average of 40 instructional hours each year
  • LCBC students received an average of 53 instructional hours
• 58% of students statewide received sufficient instructional hours and were post-tested
  
  • 81% of LCBC students received sufficient instructional hours and were post-tested
• 33% of students across the state improved post-test scores by a full level
  • 43% of LCBC students improved post-test scores by a full level

In short, you are helping our students outperform state averages!

How Can You Continue to Help?

• Submit your attendance logs on time. Funding for your program is directly correlated with the number of instructional hours that our students receive. You can click here to download a new attendance log from our website or pick one up in the office.
• Encourage your student to stick with it! If a student “stops out” for three or more months, they will have to reenter the program with a new pre-test. We want our students to continue to show persistence throughout the year. Students are be better equipped to show improvement if they have at least 40 hours of instruction per year.
• Use lesson plans that include Adult Education Content Standards. For ESOL tutors, Ventures lesson plans provide a perfect starting point for your lesion plans. For Adult Education tutors, please follow the Wilson lesson plan or use the supplementary materials you discussed with the program director. If you have questions about this, please contact your program director.
• Prepare your students for CASAS testing. Your students are most likely to be successful if you get them accustomed to the testing process by administering unit tests when appropriate and talking about test taking skills. If you need support on how to do this, please attend the spring in-service training about CASAS testing.
• Talk to your students about their goals. Check in with your students about their goals regularly to ensure they have the encouragement and information they need to be successful. Once you have a clear understanding of your students’ goals, we can provide you with resources and contacts that you can use to help them be successful.

To our Buncombe County neighbors,

The Literacy Council of Buncombe County values people of all ages, races, religions, national and ethnic origins, abilities and disabilities, sexual orientations, and gender identities. Our staff and board are committed to creating opportunities for all people in Buncombe County to receive high-quality educational services. We honor the gifts that our diverse students and volunteers bring to our community.

In the month of November, we received inquiries from 50 people wanting to become volunteer tutors. This is twice the number we would typically receive over the course of a month. This tells us that people in our community honor and value literacy and English language education and want to help our students achieve their goals.

We are grateful to live and work in such a supportive community.

With great respect,
Literacy Council of Buncombe County

Are you looking for the opportunity to make a difference? The Literacy Council has an exciting opportunity to join our team for a year! Apply today to become the Literacy Council’s ESOL Assistant through AmeriCorps.

Apply Here

Position Description

Join AmeriCorps and “get things done”! Become a NC LiteracyCorps member at the Literacy Council of Buncombe County and improve literacy and English language skills in our community.

NC LiteracyCorps members provide literacy tutoring to youth and adults while building program capacity through volunteer tutor management and support. The ESOL Assistant LiteracyCorps member will have the opportunity to:

Promote ESOL Student Success

• Complete the English for Speakers of Other Languages tutor training
• Become a tutor for at least one small group class
• Act as a substitute tutor for small group classes when necessary
• Conduct student orientations and intake testing for students in small groups
• Communicate with students and/or tutors when they have missed classes, need to reschedule sessions, or need to be added to the waiting list
• Assist in developing community partnerships to build a support system for students
• Work with the ESOL Program Director to promote use of the computer lab

Provide Tutor Support

• Assist with tutor appreciation events
• Work with the ESOL Program Director to plan in-service trainings
• Assist tutors with checking out and making copies of learning materials

Increase Community Awareness

• Collaborate with community organizations to assist with events involving volunteers
• Participate in volunteer fairs 
• Plan and implement national identity days

The Literacy Council’s NC LiteracyCorps member will begin in late September 2016 and complete their service year in July 2017. Over the course of the year, the member will become an integral part of the Literacy Council’s team, providing 900 hours of service.

Benefits to the Member

NC LiteracyCorps members receive a living allowance of up to $6,265 and qualify for limited health insurance reimbursements. Upon completion of requirements, they are eligible to receive an educational award of $2,887. NC LiteracyCorps members receive training in volunteer management, literacy issues, tutoring strategies, diversity, and leadership skills. The member placed with the Literacy Council will also have a professional development stipend to participate in conferences.

Qualifications

To serve with the NC LiteracyCorps, the member must:

• be at least 17 years old
• have a high school diploma or equivalent
• successfully pass statewide and national criminal background checks
• be a U.S. Citizen, National, or Legal Permanent Resident of the United States

Preferred qualifications are:

• fluent in Spanish and English (required)
• a deep commitment to providing educational opportunities to economically disadvantaged adults and those who are from other cultures
• excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to work effectively with staff, volunteers, and members of the community
• outstanding written and oral communication skills
• a working knowledge of office technology including Microsoft Office suites
• ability to work independently and collaboratively
• creative, strategic thinker with excellent organizational skills and ability to track deadlines
• available to work occasional evenings