Winnebago County
Literacy Council

"We teach so others may reach"

106 Washington Ave
Oshkosh, WI 54901
920.236.5185
www.winlit.org

The Winnebago County Literacy Council (WCLC) has been providing literacy services to adults throughout Winnebago County since its inception in 1989. The primary focus of the agency is to provide one-to-one tutoring opportunities to adults reading at or below a fourth-grade level. The WCLC utilizes trained volunteer tutors to teach adult students how to read and apply basic survival literacy skills to everyday life.

Please contact us if you know an individual who is in need of literacy services. Referrals may be made to Raissa Reimer, our Student Services Coordinator, at reimer@winlit.org, or by calling 236-5219 x 4802.

New Benefactors!

Each month, we acknowledge our new or renewing benefactors. These are hard working business people and friends who are willing to share their resources to see the Winnebago County Literacy Council and its programs grow.
To view the list of new or renewing benefactors, click here!

Winnebago County Literacy Council Receives Verizon Grant to Support Tutor Training

The Winnebago County Literacy Council has received a $7,500 grant from Verizon to support the training of literacy tutors using innovative resources available on Thinkfinity.org.

Thirty million adults—an estimated 14 percent of the country's population over the age of 16—lack basic literacy skills. That means they can barely read, write, and understand written text. Another 63 million have only slightly better literacy skills. Individuals in the service industry and construction field held many of the more than one million jobs lost in 2008. Research shows that many adults with low literacy skills work in those fields.

The National Adult Literacy Survey reveals that in Winnebago County, 12,000 adults read at Literacy Level 1, not being able to correctly fill out a simple application, accurately read a road map, or locate two pieces of information in a newspaper article.  

 “Adult education needs to take advantage of current technology.  Thinkfinity encourages using multiple approaches to literacy, allowing tutors and students to utilize techniques that best fit individual learning styles,” said Liz Rice Janzen, Executive Director of WCLC.  "At a time when the economy is in a significant downturn and philanthropy dollars have dwindled, we are pleased that Verizon continues its support of literacy funding here in Winnebago County.”

Thinkfinity.org is the Verizon Foundation’s free, comprehensive program and online portal to more than 55,000 educational resources, including standards-based, grade-specific, K-12 lessons plans and interactive tools and materials for students at all levels. The resources are provided in partnership with many of the nation’s leading educational and literacy organizations.

"The Verizon Foundation is in the business of improving lives through literacy, knowledge and a readiness for the 21st Century," said Lou Ann Novak, public affairs director for Verizon.  "Verizon is fully committed to supporting literacy programs with the needed resources to make positive changes in their communities."

The Verizon Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Verizon Communications, supports the advancement of literacy and K-12 education through its free educational Web site, Thinkfinity.org, and fosters awareness and prevention of domestic violence. In 2008, the Verizon Foundation awarded more than $68 million in grants to nonprofit agencies in the U.S. and abroad. For more information on the foundation, visit www.verizonfoundation.org.

Please remember the Winnebago County Litearcy Council in your will or estate plan.

Celebrating 20 Years in 2009!

As we celebrate two decades of service in Winnebago County, we are proud of our student's accomplishments.

With your support, we hope to help hundreds more families in our next 20 years, as adult and family literacy remains a critical concern in our community and across the nation. But we need your help to do so.

We understand that these are tough economic times, so we want you to know that a gift of any amount can make a difference. Please consider donating just $20 per month in 2009 in honor of our 20 years of service in Winnebago County.

You may make monthly contribution to the Winnebago County Literacy Council by having funds from your savings or checking account automatically deposited to the WCLC. You simply decide on the amount you want to contribute, click on our the credit/debit authorization form, complete and return the form to us, and we'll do the rest!

Credit/Debit Authorization Form

Support WCLC with Goodsearch.com and raise money!

What if the WCLC earned a penny every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

Use http://www.goodsearch.com/ as your search engine - we earn a penny for every search you do.

GoodSearch.com is a new Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charities its users designate. Use it just as you would ny search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch the donations add up!

GoodShop.com is a new online shopping mall which donates up to 37 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Macy's and Barnes & Noble have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting your favorite cause.

Just go to www.goodsearch.com and be sure to enter the Winnebago County Literacy Council as the charity you want to support. And, be sure to spread the word!

"We Care" Pick n' Save

You can support the WCLC each time you shop at Pick n' Save. Stop at the customer service desk and ask to have the WCLC account number (939250) assigned to your card. Each time you use your card we get a donation!

What's New

Tutor Resource

To see other literacy resources, go to www.thinkfinity.org and click through the features of the web page. Sign up for the monthly newsletter. You can also look through the variety of free courses, print resources, podcasts, etc. developed by ProLiteracy and the National Center for Family Literacy.

The adult Spanish collection is now located on the second floor – print and music CDs as one collection area.  The books & CDs are labeled on the shelves in Spanish.   Located on the second floor in the same wide aisle where the Green collection is.  Go to the second floor reference desk where the staff will be happy to show customers exactly where this area is.

Library announcements can't be heard in the tutorial rooms on the third floor. Please be aware of the library's posted closing time and schedule your tutoring time so that you can be done with your student 15 minutes before closing. Thanks.

Programs

Location:  Oshkosh Public Library

Dates: May 11th through the 14th (Monday - Thursday)

Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Location:  Oshkosh Public Library

Dates: June11th through the 14th (Monday - Thursday)

Time: 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Check our website, www.winlit.org, or contact us for 2009 training dates.

Location:  Oshkosh Public Library

Date: Saturday, May 23  

Time: 9:00am-1:30pm

Location:  Oshkosh Public Library

Date: June

Time: 9:00am-1:30pm

Help open someone's world to opportunities once never thought possible.
Give the gift of reading -- register for a workshop today!!

One-on-One Literacy Tutoring

WCLC provides one-to-one tutoring opportunities to adults and families in the areas of Basic Literacy, ESL, Family Literacy, Math, Workplace Literacy, and Citizenship.

One-on-One Family Literacy Tutoring Program

WCLC will train volunteer tutors to work with families at the library, in their homes, or another mutually agreed upon location in order to improve literacy levels and promote learning together as a family. This program hopes to empower parents to see themselves as their child’s first and best teacher.

Family Literacy Program

The Family Literacy Program serves refugee families needing to learn survival English. This Family literacy Program provides an Adult English as a Second Language (ESL) classes for parents while their children received age-ppropriate learning in an Early Learning Classroom at the same time.

For information on any of these programs, contact Raissa Reimer at reimer@winlit.org or call 236-5219 ext. 4802.

Events

Join us again on Saturday, September 19, 2009, from 1-3

for our 2nd Annual

Team Scrabble Fundraiser

Becket's Restaurant

City Center

Grab 3 of your friends, colleagues or co-workers and register your team to compete against others

Register now, space is limited!

Team Registration $100

Includes Food and Door Prizes.

Cash Bar

Team Registration Form

Not very good at Scrabble®?
No problem. You may buy extra letters, sneak peeks in the dictionary, and even get expert advice. The more you raise in pledges the more opportunities you'll have!

Pledge Sheet

Watch for additional details in upcoming issues

Volunteer Spotlight

Carol Kossel

I have been tutoring for the Winnebago County Literacy Council since July 2009.  Because I have always loved reading I thought that it would be wonderful to help someone to improve their English language skills.

Tutoring is enjoyable because it is both challenging and rewarding.  I like the variety of lesson plans, since each student required a different level of learning. I have had the privilege of working with three wonderful women so far.  It is a joy to see the progress made and the growth of friendship in the weeks spent together.

Volunteer Time Worth More Than $20 an Hour Last Year!

The average value of donated time by volunteers was $20.25 per hour in 2008, according to a new study by Independent Sector, in Washington, a coalition of major charities and foundations.

The study also broke down the average dollar value of volunteer hours by state and in Washington, based on 2007 figures, the most recent available. Labor by volunteers in the District of Columbia was deemed the most financially valuable, at a worth of $31.55 per hour, followed by New York volunteers, whose work was valued at $28.04 per hour.

The donated time of volunteers in Puerto Rico offered the biggest bargain for charities, at $10.56 per hour, followed by South Dakotans, whose time was pegged at a value of $14.27 per hour.

The study based its data on average hourly earnings for all hourly-wage, nonfarm workers gathered by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, increasing figures by 12 percent to estimate for fringe benefits.

The overall average value of a volunteer hour has jumped 39 percent in the past 10 years, from $14.56 in 1998, and nearly 18 percent in the past five years, up from $17.19 in 2003. In both cases, the increases are ahead of the rate of inflation during those periods.

Wanted!

Adult Literacy Tutoring Program

Cassette players with recording option

Blank cassette tapes

Family Literacy Program

Gift certificates to grocery stores to purchase snacks

Juice

Crackers

Napkins and paper plates

Play dough

Office Supplies

Dry eraser markers (wipe boards)

Copy paper

Manila file folders

Black and color ink cartridges (Black is 96 Color is 97)

Of Interest

Reading and Brain Research

1. The left hemisphere of the brain processes symbols (Left-brain dominant readers usually excel first and faster in schools)
2. The right hemisphere of the brain addresses visual spacing (Right-brain dominant readers depend on the repetition of pictures to transfer information into long term-memory systems. These readers do well with a highly-illustrated whole-language approach.)
3. The size of the corpus callosum (connection between the hemispheres) is important when shifting from one hemisphere to another. Weak readers can develop this connection through spaced visual repetition.
4. Shifting from right to left in a organized pattern helps strengthens connections while increasing the speed of comprehension.
5. Holding the interest of the reader with humorous cartoon characters while spaced repetition occurs allows for short-term and long-term memory systems to improve dramatically.
6. Font with smoother edges allows for less blurring-dyslexics (as well as other readers) prefer comic sans for easier processing.
7. The size of the font directly affects the speed and efficiency of reading.
8. When words are highlighted in red they are subconsciously processed with a deeper mental imprinting.
9. Advanced vocabulary is one of the easiest and best ways to empower and motivate a student- no matter what ability level he or she has.

Business or articles of interest to the WCLC readership.

Do you have an article or item of interest to the business or education community that will benefit our tutors or students? We'd enjoy your input! This is a great way to spotlight your company, message or name! Contact Liz Rice Janzen!

Contact Us!

The easiest way to contact us is using email - you've seen our email address throughout - that of Liz Rice Janzen! Our phone number and mail address are:

920.236.5185 phone
920.236.5227 fax
106 Washington Ave. Oshkosh, WI 54901

Closing Notes:

Winnebago County Literacy Council relies exclusively on volunteers and gifts from our community to serve in our community. If you are willing to volunteer time or give a gift of money, thank you!