Following up from our April Piedmont Triad Lifelong Learning Symposium, Reading Connections is pleased to offer a free webinar on Organizing a Regional Grassroots Literacy Advocacy Network.
Please plan to join us on June 16 from 1:30 – 3:00 pm to learn how you can organize and influence public policies for lifelong learning in the Piedmont Triad region. Whether or not you attended Piedmont Triad Partnership's Lifelong Learning Summit in April, join us to learn effective strategies for grassroots organizing, share what you think will work best for your region, and strategically organize a grassroots literacy advocacy network in the Piedmont Triad.
Jackie Taylor and Marsha Tait from the National Coalition for Literacy will lead the webinar and help participants answer questions like:
Why organize? Why me?
How do I find the time?
How does advocacy help to build coalitions?
What are outcomes of other literacy advocacy networks?
What network models could we replicate or adapt?
What will work best for the Piedmont Triad region?
How do we get others involved?
What are our next steps?
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to learn about advocacy from national experts. Please feel free to pass the invitation to other people who would be valuable allies in literacy advocacy activities!
Thank you to all of our Board members, guests, Table Captains, staff, students, and tutors who made our 3rd Annual Literacy Leadership Breakfast a smashing success! Around 100 people attended the breakfast to hear about Reading Connections' work and pledged nearly $20,000 in support.
Click the image below for a slide show or visit our photo gallery.
On Thursday, May 27, the Greensboro Newcomers featured Reading Connections' family literacy program, Motheread, at their final meeting for the year. We would like to thank tutor Shirley Trager and the Greensboro Newcomers for generously giving $645 in support of our Family Literacy program, which helps parents of pre-school children improve their own reading skills while helping their children develop a love of reading and be ready to enter school. Thanks to everyone who attended and donated!
Reading Connections, in partnership with Fairway Outdoor Advertising and WFMY News 2 (click for video of coverage), have launched a campaign to raise awareness of the Get Not Out of Your Life program and direct adults to literacy and lifelong learning resources. Billboards will appear in Guilford, Forsyth, Alamance, Surry, Randolph, Stokes, Rockingham and Davidson counties. Reading Connections and the Piedmont Triad Partnership unveiled the Guilford County billboard at 403 S. Eugene Street on Thursday May 20th at 11:00 a.m. Concurrently, two 30-second public service announcements ran on WFMY News 2 from May 10 th through June 4th . The ads highlight stories of local adults who have taken "not" out of their lives and advanced their careers through education:
The "Take Not Out of Your Life" campaign was developed to motivate and inspire adults who may have given up on their education to take action and develop the skills they need. Using headlines like "You're just right for college," "You're smart enough," or "You can change your future," billboards, posters, fliers, and newspaper ads promote a positive attitude toward education. Reading Connections and Fairway Outdoor Advertising have posted billboards in 8 of the 12 Piedmont Triad counties.
Look for more ads and billboards over the next few weeks as other organizations roll out "Take 'Not' Out" campaigns, and think about where you can take "not" out of your own life!
Proliteracy, NCLA, and Greensboro College are partnering to bring an exciting professional development opportunity to our community.
Join us on the campus of historic Greensboro College to connect with adult literacy colleagues and sharpen your skills during two days of professional development focused on English-as-a-second-language instruction, reading research, or program marketing strategies.
Choose one of three intensive workshops:
• Helping Struggling English Language Learners, Robin Lovrien Schwarz
• Teaching Adults to Read: Components of Reading, Kathy St. John
• Strategic Messaging: Selling Your Program to Partners and Funders, Marie Cora
Special Guests: New York Times best selling author Jerry Bledsoe and local literacy advocate Lee Kinard will address participants at the networking reception on June 10. Don't miss it!
Registration fee is $45 for one participant, $25 for each additional participant.
(ProLiteracy and North Carolina Literacy Association members receive a 15% discount.)
During the summer months, many of our tutors and instructors like to take time off for vacation, and while these instructors are gone, we try to find a substitute teacher to keep classes and tutoring sessions going. We're currently compiling a list of volunteer tutors who would be interested in covering classes and sessions during the next couple months, and if you would like to add your name to the list, please let us know! We are offering a variety of courses in both the Greensboro and High Point offices this summer, so it may offer a chance to work with a new and different student population than what you're accustomed to.
And if you are a tutor going out of town this summer, please let us know! We can find a class for your student to attend in the meantime.
June tutor training will happen at the High Point Library (901 N. Main Street).
Orientation:
Thursday, June 3rd
5:30 - 6:30 pm
Session 1:
Monday, June 7th
5:00 - 8:00 pm
Session 2:
Wednesday, June 9th
5:00 - 8:00 pm
If you are interested in attending a training session, please contact Kyri Murdough (kmurdough@readingconnections.org) to attend. If you know someone who'd make a great tutor, please pass along these dates!
If you think you've received this email in error or would like to be removed from the list, send an email with UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject line to info@readingconnections.org
Following up from our April Piedmont Triad Lifelong Learning Symposium, Reading Connections is pleased to offer a free webinar on Organizing a Regional Grassroots Literacy Advocacy Network.
On Thursday, May 27, the Greensboro Newcomers featured Reading Connections' family literacy program, Motheread, at their final meeting for the year. We would like to thank tutor Shirley Trager and the Greensboro Newcomers for generously giving $645 in support of our Family Literacy program, which helps parents of pre-school children improve their own reading skills while helping their children develop a love of reading and be ready to enter school. Thanks to everyone who attended and donated! 
Join us on the campus of historic Greensboro College to connect with adult literacy colleagues and sharpen your skills during two days of professional development focused on English-as-a-second-language instruction, reading research, or program marketing strategies. 
During the summer months, many of our tutors and instructors like to take time off for vacation, and while these instructors are gone, we try to find a substitute teacher to keep classes and tutoring sessions going. We're currently compiling a list of volunteer tutors who would be interested in covering classes and sessions during the next couple months, and if you would like to add your name to the list, please let us know! We are offering a variety of courses in both the Greensboro and High Point offices this summer, so it may offer a chance to work with a new and different student population than what you're accustomed to. 
Reading Connections' offices will be closed on Monday, July 5th in observance of Independence Day. Have a safe and fun holiday weekend!