Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do?

I’m originally from Grant, a small farming community north of Grand Rapids, but GR has been home for almost a decade. I work in marketing and advertising.

What drew you to the mission of the Literacy Center?

Libby Crabb Wahlstrom [Literacy Center Development Director] was the first person to introduce me to the Literacy Center. We are close friends, and when she told me about the organization, I was floored. I spent a month in Rome during college, and I know how hard that was to navigate. I can’t imagine not being able to read while still performing a job or navigating a city. I also loved that the Literacy Center serves adult learners. Don’t get me wrong, kids are important, but there are so few programs for adults.

 Blogger: Carrie Roper (Literacy Coordinator)

Christopher Helgeson is a software developer who has been working alongside Saw-Sa-Nay, a native of Myanmar, since October of 2017. With Christopher’s guidance, Saw is making significant progress in his listening and conversation skills. Just as importantly, the two have had a meaningful exchange of cultural ideas and experiences. 

Great Short Stories for Listening & Speaking

Blogger: Katherine Payne (Literacy Coordinator)

For tutors who are looking for meaningful conversation practice for their advanced level learners, Great Short Stories for Listening-Speaking offers adaptations of timeless short stories from authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm. Like similar items in our library, this workbook provides our learners an opportunity to access stories with simplified and engaging vocabulary. 

Interviewer: Katherine Payne (Literacy Coordinator)

Anthony Hanline is a full-time student and has tutored his learner, Abubaker, since September 2016. This past November, Abubaker was sworn in as a US citizen after passing the difficult naturalization exam. Anthony and Abubaker worked together closely to prepare for the exam, and Anthony agreed to share his experiences with the naturalization process to encourage fellow tutors and learners.

For Lili and her husband Omary, literacy is a family affair.

The couple, both born in the Congo, struggled to find jobs in West Michigan that would support their family of five and provide meaningful work. They each felt that their English literacy levels limited their ability to work in their desired fields—Omary as an electrician and Lili in healthcare. 

That’s when Omary discovered the Literacy Center. He enrolled in the Construction Core program, a partnership with the Literacy Center and Grand Rapids Community College’s M-TEC. Soon after, Lili enrolled in a similar class for Certified Nurse Aid (CNA). Both of these classes taught the necessary job skills with the support of an English language instructor from the Literacy Center.

 Listen & Level Up with Pearson English Readers

Blogger: Queyonna Hunt (Literacy Coordinator) 

Are you and your learner ready to take listening comprehension to the next level? If so, we encourage you to stop by our library to check out Pearson's English Readers Series.

Pearson, a conduit of education publishing and assessment services, understands the needs of English learners. The English Readers Series attempts to streamline the process of developing listening comprehension by offering an array of titles, all of which include plans for pre-reading and post-reading analysis and further online lesson plans.

Reading & Writing: Weaving it Together

Blogger: Thomas Rodgers (Literacy Coordinator)

Learner and tutor pairs often tell me that writing is the one topic that presents the most difficulty for them. Fortunately, we have a great resource called Weaving It Together that can help. 

Interviewed by: Queyonna Hunt (Literacy Coordinator)

Queyonna sat down with Diedre Deering and her learner, Malvin Brooks, during one of their tutoring sessions in the Literacy Center's tutor library. Diedre is the Executive Assistant at the Literacy Center, and she and Malvin have been meeting together since May 2017.

What did those first meetings look like?

Malvin and I met for the first time at the Van Belkum library branch. For the first couple of weeks, we just got to know each other. From the very beginning, I was impressed at Malvin's dedication. He is so faithful about doing his homework and always shows up for tutoring even though he works two jobs.

What was your proudest moment as a tutor? 

I would say my proudest moment was when Malvin received his score on the second [reading] test he took after we started working together. He had a significant jump in score on that second test, and it showed that everything we'd been working on was helping him improve.

From Pro Lingua Associates: A Phrasal Verb Affair 

Blogger: Carrie Roper (Literacy Coordinator)

For most people studying English, learning how to use phrasal verbs is a significant challenge. They are semantically and grammatically complex, and often use verbs with different meanings. 

Unfortunately, those of us who are native speakers use these phrasal verbs frequently throughout our daily conversations and in writing. The Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs currently lists 12,000 different entries; this can confuse learners of all levels.

For learners who are interested in working on phrasal verbs, I recommend “A Phrasal Verb Affair.” This bright pink workbook is hard to miss in our tutor library and includes an audio CD with conversations from the lessons. 

A Second Chance at a Dream: Rachida's Story

Written by Carrie Roper (Literacy Coordinator)

Rachida was born in Algeria, and always dreamt of working in the very competitive healthcare field in her country. Instead, Rachida graduated with a degree in Marketing and took a position as an administrative assistant in the Ministry of Environment and Renewable Energy.

When Rachida moved to Grand Rapids in December of 2017 to join her husband, she saw an opportunity to change her career. It was a second chance for her dream: to start from the beginning of her journey into the healthcare field.

Johana Rodriguez Quist Hired as Family Literacy Program Director

The Literacy Center of West Michigan is pleased to announce Johana Rodriguez Quist as the new director of its Family Literacy Program, a program that strengthens the connection between home and school by addressing the literacy needs of adults in children’s lives.

“Our Family Literacy Program aligns parents’ education with what their children are learning in the classroom,” said Dr. Wendy Falb, executive director of the Literacy Center of West Michigan. “Johana’s experience supporting parents in the public schools gives her a deep understanding of the need for teaching parents the language skills necessary to break the generational cycle of low literacy.”

Interviewed by Thomas Rodgers (Literacy Coordinator)

Paul Conlon began working with his learner, Livingstone, in 2016. Paul was a retired teacher who had worked with children for more than 30 years, but was admittedly a bit apprehensive about working with an adult. He quickly learned that adult learners like Livingstone are often highly motivated to learn.

September's A-Z Textbook | Focus on Grammar

Blogger: Katherine Payne (Literacy Coordinator)

For adult learners hoping to improve their literacy skills, grammar can seem like an insurmountable barrier to fluency. For their tutors, grammar can be an out-of-reach concept tied to knowledge they acquired in early school days. Thankfully, the book Focus on Grammar structures grammar instruction in an accessible and relatable way.

With the sheer amount of information needing to be covered in English grammar, most adult literacy textbooks choose between covering the basics for everyday use or exploring advanced usage more necessary for higher education.

Focus on Grammar marries these two opposing needs into one series. With five levels ranging from beginning to advanced, learners can build their grammar fluency at any stage of their learning path.

Kari Sovereign served as an AmeriCorps member with the Literacy Center last year, and is returning this year for a second service year. She spoke with Libby Wahlstrom about her experience. 

Why did you want to become an AmeriCorps member with the Literacy Center? 

During my Capstone for my Master’s Degree in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), I got involved with the Literacy Center as a volunteer tutor. I was matched with a learner from Burma, named Say Paw, and I continue to be her tutor to this day. I received information about the AmeriCorps program through my professor at Cornerstone and was immediately interested in the opportunity for teaching experience and connecting with the Grand Rapids Public Schools community.

Describe your role. What is your job like?

My official position is an ESL instructor, but we as AmeriCorps members have many roles in the community. Last year, I taught ESL classes at Cook Library, Buchannan, Burton, Dickinson and West Godwin schools in the morning and in the afternoon. My learners were adult beginning learners of English with children that attended Grand Rapids Public Schools or Godwin Heights Public Schools.

Interviewed by Carrie Roper (Literacy Coordinator)

Kalista Castine is a retired educator of adults and children within Special and Alternative Education.  She has previously tutored with children at the West Michigan Children’s Dyslexia Center.  She has been working with her learner Justin since February of this year, and the two have already seen significant improvement in his reading score. Justin is from Detroit and is working toward earning his GED.

Tell me about working with Justin.

Justin is a resourceful and persistent person, especially in his quest to improve his reading and spelling skills. We started working with what he knew and have built up our lessons from there. I continue to remind him that he is learning how to unlock literacy for himself. The first six months have flown by, and we are set to continue for as long as we need to or can.