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Take the HIGH FIVE Challenge!
 If every person in Guilford County gave just $5, we would have over $2 million dollars to use to fight low literacy in our community!
You can be part of the movement to end illiteracy now! Our goal is to raise $50,000 by 5-5-2010. Now more than ever Reading Connections and our students need your support, donations, and advocacy as we face challenging economic times.
What can I do?
Visit our web site to see what your $5 can do and click the  button.
AND/OR
Forward this email to 5 friends, and ask them to forward it to 5 friends, and each of THEM can forward it to 5 friends, and....well, you get the idea!
What difference can your $5 make?
$5, or $5 a month, or $5 a week...no matter what you give, you can make a difference. $5 will buy a workbook for a student working towards a GED. It will pay for copies of worksheets for an entire class. Or it will pay for an assessment to help a student see how much progress she has made.
The important part is where your $5 meets everyone else's $5...together you make a difference that's more than the sum of its parts. It says our community cares about literacy and wants to do something important together.
So take the HIGH FIVE Challenge today and leave your mark on literacy!
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Take a Tour!
 If you haven't attended a Connect with Reading Connections tour yet, you're missing the whole picture! Reading Connections does so much more than one-to-one tutoring!
Come spend an hour with us and find out about the many community outreach programs we offer, hear moving testimonials from students and tutors, and learn about how literacy affects individuals, their families, and the community. These tours are an excellent way to introduce your colleagues, friends, and family to Reading Connections.
Tours are held at 5:00 p.m. staring in the 5th floor conference room in the Self Help building at 122 N. Elm Street in Greensboro. The tour lasts exactly one hour.
We are also happy to conduct "virtual tours" at your home, office, or church to help spread the word about the need for literacy services.
Dates of upcoming tours:
September 8th
October 6th
November 3rd
December 1st
If you'd like to reserve a spot on a tour or schedule an off-site presentation for your group, please contact Marcy Ray at 230-2223 or mray@readingconnections.org.
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Office Closed for Labor Day
Our offices will be closed Monday September 7 in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
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AmeriCorps
"Little Heroes Family Connection" Project
 This September 11th please help connect children with their deployed parents or relatives. AmeriCorps members will be collecting materials for “connection packages”. Items include: stamps, stationery, cards, blank tapes, disposable cameras, pens, pencils, markers, school supplies, stickers, ink pads (anything that a child could use to create a message and “connect” with his/her deployed relative).
Drop off locations for your kind donations can be found on the fifth floor of the Self-help building: rooms 500 (African Services Coalition) and 520 (Reading Connections).
Thank you for your participation!
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Volunteers Needed for Small Group Classes
Are you interested in helping more than one student improve their basic skills?
Reading Connections is looking for a few good tutors to teach small group classes. Small classes help us provide services to more students while still maintaining a level of indivualized attention that helps students make rapid progress.
We currently have opportunities for volunteers interesting in teaching any of the following classes:
- DVD-based reading instruction
- ESOL conversation
- Intermediate math
- Health literacy
- Word study
- English/Civics (held at the Montagnard Dega Church)
- English For All (computer-based ESOL)
- Level 4 reading (based on Level 4 Low-Intermediate toolkit)
- ESOL (taught at the Korean Church or Merritt Drive Church)
- Book Club
Instructors will be assisting 3-5 students weekly (or twice weekly) over a span of at least 10 weeks. We will be providing our tutors with specific training in the subject(s) they will teach. Tutors will also be provided with curriculum-specific materials to use during their sessions. Classes are available at a variety of times during the day to fit almost any schedule.
If you have questions or are interested in teaching a small group class, please contact Rhiannon Kelly at 230-2223 or rkelly@readingconnections.org.
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Upcoming Tutor Conference
 This fall Reading Connections will be holding a conference for all tutors to learn about our new checklists and toolkits and to have an opportunity to discuss tutoring issues with experienced trainers and our Reading Specialist. Be sure to watch your email for more details on Tuesday!
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Return Your Unused Tutor Books
Do you have old tutoring books or workbooks you received from Reading Connections that you're not using any more? Need some extra storage space in your house? Let us take those unused books off your hands and off your shelves! This will help us make the most of our resources by passing on unused materials to other tutors. We are looking for copies of the following books:
- Side by Side / Side by Side Plus (all levels)
- Life Prints (all levels - student books and teacher's editions)
- Voyager (student books and workbooks)
- Patterns in Spelling (all levels)
- Complete GED
- Passages (student and teacher books)
- Mastering Math (levels D and E)
- Foundations Math
- Word by Word Picture Dictionary
- The Basic Oxford Picture Dictionary
Thank you for helping us pass along these useful materials!
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September Tutor Training Dates
Greensboro: (8th Floor Conference Room, Self Help Building, 122 N. Elm Street)
You must complete one orientation session and both training sessions to complete the training. 
Tue Sep 8
| Orientation |
September 8 |
5pm – 6pm |
Thu Sep 17
or |
September 17 |
6pm – 7pm |
Tue Sep 22
| Session 1: |
September 22 |
6pm – 8:30pm |
Thu Sep 24
| Session 2: |
September 24 |
6pm – 8:30pm |
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New Testing Requirements
 Due to new procedures handed down by the state Community College System, students must now complete 40 hours of instruction before they can take a post-test to measure progress, and Reading Connections must post-test at least 65% of its students. This means that at least 65% of our students must complete 40 hours or more of instruction in order for Reading Connections to continue to receive the same level of funding from the Community College System. This represents over $100,000, or about 20-25% of our budget!
We ask that tutors please be mindful of these new requirements and encourage your student to attend at least 4 hours of instruction each month. (Instruction can take the form of one-to-one tutoring or small group classes. We have a number of classes for students, such as our new Learning Lab described below.) Please contact Reading Connections staff if you have any questions or concerns about this new policy.
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Classes for Students
Learning Lab
Introducing Learning Lab! This month we have started Learning Lab in the Greensboro RC office. Students can sign up for 1.5 hour blocks of time (available morning, afternoon, and evening) to work with a tutor in our office. This is a great opportunity to increase instruction time and can be a replacement for a missed session if you and your student are unable to meet for some reason one week. Please encourage your students to call (336) 230-2223 to sign up for a Learning Lab slot!
Reading FUNdamentals
This video-based course helps students master the fundamentals of reading such as phonics, consonant blends, syllables, and more! Designed for students with dyslexia, this program has helped adults with and without learning differences make dramatic improvements in their reading abilities. Upcoming classes will be offered weekly starting on Tuesday, September 21 at 6:00 p.m. and Friday September 25 from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m.
Please call 230-2223 or contact Micah Guindon at mguindon@readingconnections.org if your student would like to sign up for either of these classes!
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