News & Blog
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The Family Literacy English class that I teach at Cook Library Center quickly fell into a routine last fall with a group of 
dedicated English language learners. It was during the second week of classes that a woman with what appeared to be a large growth on her back came to class. Maria introduced herself and told us she is from Guatemala and has lived in America for 14 years. She is happily married with six children, five of them boys, and the baby is a girl. With the help of the other women in class, she quickly assimilated and the session moved along smoothly.
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Novel Scenes | Introduction to Low Intermediate
For English language learners first starting out with their English literacy skills, it can be difficult to find reading materials appropriate for their ability and interests.
The traditional adult literacy workbook addresses everyday literacy skills necessary for survival in the community and the workplace, but it may miss the mark on exciting and engaging subject matter. For tutoring pairs interested in reading short stories, but need the structure of a workbook, Novel Scenes is the perfect fit.
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Three days a week, Baldo gets up before dawn to attend an English class at 5 AM before his work shift begins. The two-
hour class is held for Baldo and 20 of his colleagues at their workplace, Kent Companies.
Baldo’s English class is part of the Literacy Center’s Customized Workplace English program that provides customized classes on site at local companies and businesses. The classes are designed around the work that learners encounter at their job, and are offered at times that are convenient for the employees. For Baldo, this means coming to English class before his shift so that he can learn the English he needs communicate with other workers and succeed at his job.
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Q & A with Ariel DuVal Zinn
At the Literacy Center of West Michigan, we are serious about not just talking the talk of literacy but also walking the walk. 
Most of our staff members are also tutors themselves.
Ariel DuVal Zinn is the Literacy Center's AmeriCorps Coordinator, and has been tutoring Mike Crumb since February 2016. In this month's Q & A, Ariel tells us about her experience as a volunteer tutor with the Literacy Center.
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Index Card Games
One of the many strengths of the Adult Tutoring Program here at the Literacy Center is the number of resources available to our volunteer tutors. While we thoroughly train and prepare tutors with leveled and relevant textbooks, we know that working from a single book for two hours straight can become quite boring.
Thankfully, we equipped the Tutor Library with many reference books to help tutors find new and exciting material for each lesson. Today we will be discussing one of said books, titled Index Card Games for ESL, which provides tutors with fun word games for every subject and level.
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Stories & Activities for Parents
As the family literacy coordinator, I am always looking for tools to help parents connect to schools. From Home to School is a supplementary resource filled with common scenarios that parents will encounter. Tutors have often mentioned the great discussions that happen with parent learners when going through the book.
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One thing is clear from West Michigan business owners: the labor market is tight. With an unemployment rate of 4% as of January 2018, employers are actively searching for innovative ways to attract and retain talent. Irwin Seating Company, a Grand Rapids-based manufacturing company, was no exception. They had a number of temporary employees without GEDs or diplomas who had applied for permanent employment, but were unable to get past the interview stage due to their literacy barriers.
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Connector, partner, bridge-builder, advocate. These are the words that everyone in town uses to describe
John Helmholdt, recipient of this year’s Ledy Award for Community Engagement.
For the last 10 years, John has used these skills in his role as the Executive Director for Communications and External Affairs at Grand Rapids Public Schools to build social capital and strengthen confidence in our city’s public school system.
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The Challenger Adult Reading Series is one of the most enduring and user-friendly publications I have encountered in adult education. Our adult learners and volunteer tutors all love the high-interest reading, targeted exercises, consistent formatting, and wide variety of topics. When using Challenger, learners can work closely with a tutor to explore stories from around the globe. The reading levels range from almost non-reader to GED preparation. We recommend this series to both our adult basic education (ABE) and English language learners (ESL).
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Cheri Stanard is the kind of person who finds her own joy by giving of herself to others. Her generous energy has been 
felt by the staff and learners at the Literacy Center, and we are eager to recognize her with this year’s Marshall Pitler Volunteer of the Year Award. “Cheri is one of the kindest people I know,” says Literacy Coordinator, Katherine Payne. “Her warmth and her unwavering patience positively impact the educational success and social engagement of her learners.”
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Q & A with Kelly Perutelli
Kelly Perutelli is a writer, a social worker, and a volunteer tutor with the Literacy Center of West Michigan. Since May 2017, Kelly has met each week with her learner, Idalmis, to work on specific goals like conversation skills, workplace literacy, and community involvement. Kelly agreed to share her experiences as a tutor, with the hope of encouraging others to step into this role.
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When Tony Campbell arrived at Heart of West Michigan United Way, he arrived with the resume, the personality, and the
intelligence to hit the ground running. And he did just that. Tony became a fixture in the non-profit community locally and throughout Michigan, finding ways to connect divergent groups and to get things done.
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During the last week of March, several Literacy Center staff members and instructors attended the TESOL (Teaching 
English to Speakers of Other Language) 2018 International Convention in Chicago. There were over 6,500 attendees and some 1,000 educational sessions to choose from, so we were able to meet and learn from other English teaching professionals from around the world.
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Oxford Picture Dictionary
We are excited to announce the newest addition to the tutor library: The Oxford Picture Dictionary.
This 288-page paperback resource holds a goldmine of support for vocabulary teaching and language development. With over 4,000 English words and phrases, this dictionary supplies vibrant contextual illustrations that help learners understand the unit themes with bright, engaging artwork.
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Literacy. Why is it important? Well, if you are reading this, you may actually take your literacy for granted. But imagine for a moment that reading this was a matter of life and death. Maybe your own, or maybe that of a loved one. Imagine that this paragraph was the dosage instructions for one of your parent’s heart medicines, and you could not read it. The reality is that 10-15% of the adult population in West Michigan would not be able understand this paragraph.
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Welcome Newcomers | American Culture
Blogger: Miranda Buckwald (AmeriCorps Family Literacy Tutor)
If you and your learner are looking for a book series containing relevant and applicable information about life in the United States, the Welcome Newcomers series might be just what you need.
This series is for beginning level learners who are new to the United States. Each of these short books tackles an aspect of American life, including schools, money, food, and culture. The Literacy Center has stocked many books from this series in the Tutor Library.
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Stand up for Stand Out
Stand Out is an excellent comprehensive textbook series for an English language learner. The series features textbooks and workbooks at a variety of levels that are appropriate for many learners, and also align with the CASAS testing system.
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I came to the Literacy Center of West Michigan in 2017 after serving as a literacy and GED tutor in Cincinnati. I had grown to love the 1-1 connection in helping students, especially adults, make the leaps to achieve goals for themselves and their families. When I moved to West Michigan, I wanted to do similar volunteering with the Literacy Center.
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One of the very first learners I was matched with was a young woman named Sah. Sah came from Burma to the United 
States as a refugee after spending many years in a refugee camp. She sought out the services of the Literacy Center because she wanted to improve her English conversation and reading skills in order to be able to help her child succeed in school and to find meaningful work. At first I was admittedly nervous to meet with someone who had overcome so much in their short life, but Sah’s kind demeanor and welcoming smile during our first lesson immediately put any anxieties I had to rest.
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Banza Mukalay grew up in Congo, the second largest country in Africa. After attending school for 12 years, he graduated 
as a mechanic in 1996. Banza got married after high school and a year later, two major things happened: he and his wife became pregnant with a girl, and a war began.
Banza and his wife escaped the war while his wife was pregnant and hid in a neighboring village. Once the war was over and his home town of Kalemie went through a regime change, Banza’s family moved back home. The peace did not last long, and a new war began in 1998. It was at that point that Banza and his mother, wife, child, brothers, and sisters, fled across Lake Tanganyika into Tanzania.
On November 6, 1998 Banza and his family became refugees and were sent to live in the refugee camp. He would live there for 15 years, and three of his four children would be born in the refugee camp. During that time, he worked as a security guard for World Vision, a social worker for the International Rescue Committee (IRC), and was ordained as a pastor by the United Methodist Church. Banza led a church in the refugee camp for two years before finally gaining access to the United States.
