News & Blog
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Fatos, Apo, and their two sons moved to the United States from Istanbul. Before coming here, Fatos and Apo were business partners in their home country. Given her experience as a business owner, Fatos was able to quickly spot a need in West Michigan’s business community.
“When I came to here… I did not see that a restaurant had fresh and homemade food.”
Together, they began to design their restaurant and café: Café de Miro. However, they faced a few barriers.
“I can’t open one of these stores,” Fatos says, “because I don’t speak English too well.” That’s when Fatos and Apo came to the Literacy Center.
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When Larry and Coromoto visited the U.S. in 2017, they planned to stay for 15 days. However, the instability in their home country of Venezuela was worsening by the day, and their son, a doctor who had been practicing medicine here for 20 years, persuaded them to stay in Grand Rapids.
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If I could have three wishes they would be the following:
For my 1st wish is that poverty would disappear in the world, because I see people who have nothing to eat.
My 2nd wish would be to remove the hatred people have about the differences of races. People should be able to see each other regardless of the color of their skin, and help each other.
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Marielena Huerta is a tutor who is also serving as an AmeriCorps member through the Literacy Center's Family Literacy program. Her parents were originally from Mexico, so she understands the challenges adults face as they learn English. Marielena attended college at Aquinas, where she majored in Community Leadership and Interpretation.
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"We've Impacted Each Other's Lives"
Emmalee Anderson has been a tutor with the Literacy Center of West Michigan since July 2018. She first heard about the opportunity during a presentation from the Lieracy Center at her firm, McShane & Bowie. She shared her experiences with her learner, Margoth, in an interview with her literacy coordinator.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do?
I am a paralegal with a law firm. I graduated from Grand Valley with a minor in Spanish and always had a love of languages. I also love to bake and that’s something Margoth and I both do. We bring each other treats. I like traveling, too. My husband and I recently went to Italy. I have dual citizenship and a lot of family in Australia.
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I recently became interested in eating healthy foods. I have been thinking of having a garden. Then a friend told me about a place where there is a community garden sponsored by church. I was able to rent a small plot. I was very excited because I have a garden of my own.
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A special thanks to our friends at Art Peers for producing the Spellebration 2019 honoree tribute video.
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Laurie Zarzecki Emelander is the Finance Director at the Literacy Center of West Michigan, and recently celebrated 25 years with the organization. Laurie has tutored for the past 4 years and spoke with Katherine Payne, Literacy Coordinator, about her experiences.
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A Matter of Fact Series
It’s been a month of busy energy here at the Literacy Center. We've been basking in the warming weather and enjoying the materials that just popped onto the shelves in our Tutor Library--an amazing eruption of Non-Fiction!
We are delighted to introduce to you this month's Featured Supplementary Resource that is literally a matter of fact!
With a fitting name, the Fact Matters series helps develop learners' foundational knowledge through the topics they will encounter in their science, social studies, and art texts. The best part? There are so many accessible titles in this series.
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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.
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Monika Skripal’s motivation for practicing her English language skills always comes back to one thing: family. As the mother of 
two young daughters, Monika is using her English daily to advocate for their needs and to support their education. In fact, it was through their school – West Godwin Elementary – that Monika first heard about the parent-focused English classes offered through the Literacy Center’s Family Literacy Program.
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Does your learner have a voracious appetite for knowledge that is difficult to quench?
For some first-time tutors, coming up with lessons that consistently engage learners' literacy goals can feel like a daunting task. With so many available resources, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.
This is why we decided to showcase Cambridge University Press's high-interest, real-life topic series, Ventures. At its core, Ventures is a five-level, standards-based English language learning series for adults.
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Jean Buys has been a tutor with us since 2015 and has worked alongside her current learner, Kim Thi Le, since September. Jean is a veteran who served in the Air Force, Army, and National Guard. Jean now spends her time working as a career and life coach while taking care of her family.
How did you get involved with the Literacy Center?
My mom instilled the love of reading in me at a young age. Every month I would get a Dr. Seuss book in the mail. She'd call me in from outside and together we’d read the book. Also, my mother was as a tutor [at the Literacy Center].
It was during the Literacy Center’s annual picnic that I'd get to meet my mother’s learners and their families. It was like a small seed that began growing inside me after the second and third picnic. I wanted to get involved.
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Are you stuck in a rut with your tutoring?
Are you looking for more activity ideas, teaching strategies, or even a refresher on best practices for tutoring? Look no further than the reference book LITSTART: Strategies for Adult Literacy and ESL Tutors.
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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.
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Great Short Stories for Listening & Speaking
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.
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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.
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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.
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Listen & Level Up with Pearson English Readers
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.
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Reading & Writing: Weaving it Together
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.
