On August 2, over 200 Reading Connections students, volunteers, Board members, and supporters gathered to recognize the outstanding accomplishments by our students and volunteers at the Volunteer and Student Awards Ceremony. Everyone had a great time enjoying a meal from Café Pasta and speeches given by Parks Williams (a Greensboro tutor), Lorina Brandy Matthews (a Greensboro student), and Heseuk Coble (a High Point student).
We were please to recognize the following volunteers and students for their achievements this year:
Dianne Brenner
High Point Office Volunteer of the Year
Herlinda Pacheco-Lopez
High Point ESOL Student of the Year
Meredith Hendrix
High Point ESOL Tutor of the Year
Mary Ingram
High Point ABE Student of the Year
Betsy Hodge
High Point ABE Tutor of the Year
Margaret Villani
Greensboro Office Volunteer of the Year
Hre Rahlan
Greensboro ESOL Student of the Year
Marilyn James
Greensboro ESOL Tutor of the Year
Kirk Riley
Greensboro ABE Student of the Year
Karen Knoch
Greensboro ABE Tutor of the Year
Congratulations to these award recipients, and thank you to all of our students and tutors for their outstanding work and inspiring examples.
We want to extend a special thanks to West Market United Methodist Church for their generosity in letting us use their fellowship hall; Cafe Pasta for providing a fantastic meal; Costco for the tasty sheet cakes; United Way Young Leaders for serving the meal; Chakras Spa, Edward McKay’s Used Books and More, Elizabeth’s Pizza, and Triad Stage for donating gift certificates for the door prizes; and Morgan Reynolds Publishing for donating books for each guest.
Reading Connections would like to welcome the newest member of our staff, Selena Wolf. Selena has taken over Laura's position as the ABE Coordinator in the Greensboro office as Laura has gone onto graduate school. Selena has a Master's of Fine Arts from UNCG in English and was most recently been working as a Volunteer Coordinator at Operation Homework Excel. If you have not had a chance to meet her, please pop your head into the Coordinator's office and introduce yourself! Selena is thrilled to be a new part of our staff and we know she is going to offer wonderful things to the Reading Connections ABE program. Her email address is swolf@readingconnections.org.
After two weeks of a great turnout by both learners and volunteers for ESOL classes at the Friendship United Methodist Church in Browns Summit, it’s safe to say that our pilot program is a huge success! Learners from at least five local nurseries and farms have joined the program, and we’ve seen a great turnout of tutors from Reading Connections and several community churches.
We’ve been doing some great activities that have folks learning English while getting to know each other and getting out of their seats to move around. Then we break into small groups for more in-depth work on grammar and vocabulary.
A special thanks to the National Farm Workers Ministry and the Eno River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Durham for providing our evening meals!
We are also still in need of books for self-study to supplement the weekly class so that learners get as much as possible out of our three month program. Each learner will be receiving a copy of "Ingles para Latinos" (English for Latinos), an excellent self-study workbook. Each copy costs $10. Please consider donating $10 to cover the cost of one of these workbooks, which will allow learners to practice at home, after work and between classes.
Anyone who would like to donate a book or a meal, or is looking for another way to become involved with this program, is encouraged to contact our ESOL Coordinator, Andrew Trump, at atrump@readingconnections.org or 336-230-2223.
This month’s student and tutor of the month come from our Greensboro office, where tutor Chuck White and student Bud Alston have been meeting for over three years.
We feature them this month because they are an outstanding example of how perseverance and hard work can pay off. In July, after many months of putting in extra hours of studying, Bud passed the driver’s test and now has a North Carolina driver’s license.
Well done, Bud!
Bud has been with the program for several years, and also attends reading classes in the office. He works with Chuck and another student in a small group, meeting faithfully every week to study reading and phonics. The pair decided to spend some extra time on the driver’s license manual, using several sessions to complete a sample test. “He worked hard on understanding what the questions were, how to read them and what they meant,” says Chuck. "Bud should be proud, and I'm proud of him."
They worked steadily for six weeks until Bud felt good about the test—and passed!
“Now I’m just trying to catch up,” says Bud, “visiting parts of the city I haven’t in a long time.”
Congratulations to both Bud and Chuck for their hard work in achieving such a life-changing goal.
Last month we told you of the generosity of a tutor named George O’Leary, who has donated a set of intermediate-level novels for use in the Greensboro program. Those books have all arrived, and are now ready to be checked out and used with your student. Please let Selena know if you are interested in picking up any of the novels, at swolf@readingconnections.org.
Available Now! Administrative Assistant - Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30-5:00 beginning immediately..
It has been our pleasure to watch Amy Rodriquez grow with us this year. As many of you know, she has filled many positions - from administrative assistant, to family literacy assistant, to ESOL instructor. Given her many talents in these multiple roles, she needs help at the front desk two days a week beginning now! If you or someone you know has a few hours to spare, we would love to talk. Amy will train you to cover the basics! An hourly wage will be provided. Contact Micah Guindon (mguindon@readingconnections.org) or Jenny Gore (jgore@readingconnections.org) at 230-2223 to discuss the details.
Please pass these dates along to friends and colleagues you think might be interested in becoming a tutor. There will be training offered in Greensboro and High Point in September. All High Point sessions will take place in the 2nd floor Board Room in the Wachovia Building at 200 N. Main Street in High Point. All Greensboro sessions will take place in the 8th floor conference room in the Self Help building at 122 N. Elm Street in Greensboro.
High Point Training Dates:
Orientation: Thursday, September 15 - 9:00 - 11:00 am
Session 1: Tuesday, September 20 - 9:00 am - 12:00 noon
Session 2: Wednesday, September 21- 9:00 am - 12:00 noon
Greensboro Training Dates:
Orientation: Thursday, September 15 - 5:30 - 7:30 pm
Session 1: Tuesday, September 20 - 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Session 2: Thursday, September 22- 5:30 - 8:30 pm
Greensboro Tutor Reflection Date:
Please join other tutors to discuss successes and challenges you have had tutoring. It is a great way to learn new tutoring ideas from others. The Greensboro Tutor Reflection will be held on Tuesday, August 16 from 5:30-7:00 pm in the 8th floor conference room in the Self Help building at 122 N. Elm Street in Greensboro.
Bilingual volunteers that speak Spanish and English are needed for our family literacy program! On Tuesday, September 13th, we will begin our fall session at Hunter Elementary. We need bilingual volunteers that can assist participants with filling out registration forms. Please call Kim Taylor at 230-2223 if you would be available to help that day from 5:30-7:30pm.
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Newsflash
On August 2, over 200 Reading Connections students, volunteers, Board members, and supporters gathered to recognize the outstanding accomplishments by our students and volunteers at the Volunteer and Student Awards Ceremony. Everyone had a great time enjoying a meal from Café Pasta and speeches given by Parks Williams (a Greensboro tutor), Lorina Brandy Matthews (a Greensboro student), and Heseuk Coble (a High Point student). 
Reading Connections would like to welcome the newest member of our staff, Selena Wolf. Selena has taken over Laura's position as the ABE Coordinator in the Greensboro office as Laura has gone onto graduate school. Selena has a Master's of Fine Arts from UNCG in English and was most recently been working as a Volunteer Coordinator at Operation Homework Excel. If you have not had a chance to meet her, please pop your head into the Coordinator's office and introduce yourself! Selena is thrilled to be a new part of our staff and we know she is going to offer wonderful things to the Reading Connections ABE program. Her email address is swolf@readingconnections.org. 
After two weeks of a great turnout by both learners and volunteers for ESOL classes at the Friendship United Methodist Church in Browns Summit, it’s safe to say that our pilot program is a huge success! Learners from at least five local nurseries and farms have joined the program, and we’ve seen a great turnout of tutors from Reading Connections and several community churches. 
This month’s student and tutor of the month come from our Greensboro office, where tutor Chuck White and student Bud Alston have been meeting for over three years.