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Literacy Lines Newsletter NOVEMBER

2010 Upcoming Events November

2, 4, Tutor Training 9, 11 Workshop 9:00- 1:00 pm.

16, 18 Tutor Training Workshop in Marco Island 1:00- 5:00 pm

19 “Dancing with the Stars for Literacy” 6:30 pm.

25 Thanksgiving Day, office closed.

December

7 Follow up for October Workshop 1:00 pm.

9 Tutor Roundtable “How to Start Tu- toring” 1:30 pm

16 Program Commit- tee 1:30 pm

22 Board Member Meeting 4:00 pm

27-31 Christmas Day Ce- lebrated, office and computer lab closed.

January 2011

3 New Year’s Day, office closed. 17 Martin Luther King Day office closed. 25 Read-A-Thon 4:00—8:00 pm Book a Million.

Two years ago Karen Coney Coplin (on the left)was a specta-tor in the audience watching LVCC’s ama-teur “star” dancers go through their paces for the cause of liter-

acy. Karen was impressed and liked the idea of being part of the action at Dancing with the Stars so when Elaine Mayrides, LVCC’s Executive Director, recruited Karen for this year’s event, she jumped (or should it be sashayed?) at the idea.

Since signing on to dance, as well as raise money for LVCC, Karen has made regular trips to the Fred Astaire Studio to perfect her foxtrot, under the guidance of her professional partner, Studio owner, Jeff Hajko.

Karen, who lives in old Naples with her two daughters, trained and worked as a lawyer but is now a realtor with Downing-Frye. She has be-come so enthused about the upcoming event on Friday, November 19th at the Naples Beach Ho-tel and Golf Club, that she has reserved seats for her daughters. “I think they will be thrilled to see me dance and it will make the evening very spe-cial for me,” said Karen, after a recent rehearsal.

Buy Votes Six amateurs along with a professional partner will perform a two-minute routine in front of judges Tony Marino, Brenda O’Connor and Sharon Treiser. The amateur “stars” are judged on their dancing prowess as well as their ability to raise the most funds for LVCC. Hosting the event will be Mayor Bill Barnett with ABC-7 an-chor, Stacy Deffenbaugh. The other five “stars” are Dr. Lisa Caprio, Stacey Herring, Troy Melan-con, Vicki Tracy, and Lou Traina.

People attending the event will be able to buy votes for their favorite dancer at the cost of one dollar per vote with no restrictions on the num-ber of votes they buy. A special voting station will be set up where attendees can buy votes with credit cards, checks or cash.

Dancing with the Stars for Literacy is LVCC’s most important fund-raiser. Tickets are $150 per person and include dinner, show, and dancing. Sponsorships are available for tables and adver-tising in the program book.

PNC Wealth Management and the Naples Daily News are major sponsors of the event.

Live Auction Items from Priceless to $5,000

Live auction items will be sold by Mayor Bill Barnett at DWTS. Among the items already do-nated is a one of a kind necklace, handmade in Europe in about 1950, donated anonymously. The necklace made of natural coral and mother of pearl has hand-carved flowers cut from the coral and all the gold is 14 karat. The retail value is $5,000 and the suggested opening bid is $2,500.

Other live auction items include a one-week stay at the home of Renee and Scott Relf at The Mountain Club in Cashiers, N.C. The Club, perched at 3,500 feet above sea level, is about an hour and a half from Ashville (air fare not in-cluded), and area activities include fly fishing, golf, white water rafting, and hiking with great dining and spas at The Club.

Germain BMW of Naples presents “The Ulti-mate Weekend Getaway” a package that includes two nights at the world-renowned Ritz Carlton in beautiful Palm Beach, FL, and the use of a BMW from Germain BMW for the weekend. Retail value: $1,500.

Hodges University vice president, Lou Traina and his professional dance partner, Lori Val-lieres, have offered to dance for any auction bid-der at a party or function of their choice. Retail value: Priceless.

Local Realtor Happily Dances from A Spectator to a Star for Literacy

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Here at LVCC we provide English tutoring to help adults in our community increase their job opportunities, read labels in the supermarket and on pill bottles, understand road and safety signs, and talk to doctors and their children’s teachers. It is especially gratifying when we help someone become a U.S. citizen or attain a GED. But why do this?

The answer is that everyone deserves to be treated with dignity and respect.

For me this means building an environment where everyone is included, valued, and appreciated. Helping people to express themselves in our community is a very important step in this process. How can people be valued and appreciated if they cannot communicate their ideas? How can they be included in any process if they cannot contribute their thoughts?

Campaign

Every day we each have the opportunity to contribute to building dignity and respect by our behavior. Being an LVCC tutor is certainly a vital step in promoting dignity and respect in our community.

As I was researching ideas for this column, I learned that last year, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center introduced a dignity and respect campaign to its employees. The campaign supports a culture of inclusion by encouraging behavioral and organizational change. On their web site they offer tips to encourage everyone to be mindful of our interactions with others and to commit to treating others the way we would wish to be treated.

From Our Executive Director

Everyone Deserves to be Treated with Dignity and Respect

and to commit to treating others the way we would wish to be treated.

Teamwork Here are some of their tips: 1. Sweat the small stuff – it’s often the small things that make the difference 2. Smile 3. Listen – everyone feels respected when you hear their point of view 4. Say hello – you might just make someone’s day 5. Say thank you 6. Reinvent the wheel – do something that hasn’t already been done 7. Be open – look at new thoughts and ideas as learning oppor-tunities 8. Be flexible – adapt to changing conditions 9. Join the team – do your part to support teamwork 10. Be a relationship builder – find ways to expand your net-work On the UPMC website people and organizations are asked to sign a pledge stating that they support inclusion and will do their part by treating colleagues and members of their community with dignity and respect. This makes sense for all of us, and es-pecially for all of us LVCC.

On behalf of Literacy Volunteers of Collier County, I have taken that pledge. I will do my part to ensure that inclusion is at the core of what I do every day. I hope you will, too.

Elaine Mayrides

Talking About a Positive Outcome

A highlight of each Dancing with the Stars for Literacy has been the appearance of one of LVCC’s students to talk about his or her experience with the organization. This year is no ex-ception and Maria De Losh (left), Elaine Mayrides’ student for the past three and a half years, will spend a few minutes

talking about the positive outcome of her time with LVCC. Maria’s goal when she signed on with LVCC was to improve her pronunciation and continues to work on that aspect of the lan-guage. As well as owning her own business in Naples, Maria ex-cels as a tennis player, playing regularly at Cambier Park. Be sure to give her a warm welcome at the event.

A Twist that is Not a Dance A new twist (not a dance) on Dancing with the Stars this year will be the introduction of a special ticket that will allow tutors and students to view just the dancing competi-tion. The tickets will be $40 per head. Final details are be-ing worked out and will be e-mailed to the group soon.

Page 3 Our mission: to teach non-English speaking adults to read, write and speak English

281 Airport Road South Naples, FL 34104

www.collierliteracy.org Phone: 239-262-4448

Fax: 239-430-4537

LVCC Board Members

Sandra Rasmussen, President

James Galton, Vice-President

Rita Bleasdale, Vice-President

Mitch Melheim, Treasurer

Judy Peterson, Secretary

Robert Breitbard

Trisha Hare

Amy Hoffman

Jennifer Immel

Jeanette Montgomery-Evert

Kitty Sachs

Janet Saltarelli

Barbara Saner

Honorary Board

Edna Burns

Leo Mediavilla

Elaine Newton

Dennis Sprague

Thomas Sully

LVCC Staff Elaine Mayrides, Exec. Director

Sandra Barrreto, Exec. Asst.

Ingrid Fernandez, Prog. Coord

L i t e racy Vo lunteer s

o f Co l l i e r Coun ty

A Welcome, A Thank You and

A Big Hurrah! A BIG THANK YOU to the tutors who responded to our question-naire. We appreciate that you took the time to answer the questions and provide insightful comments and suggestions.

A BIG WELCOME to the new tutors from the October and November training sessions. Good luck as you embark on the fulfilling and challenging experience of being an LVCC tutor.

A BIG HURRAH for the fourth annual Dancing with the Stars for Literacy. Guests will enjoy a fabulous dance extravaganza while supporting the LVCC organization and all the deserving people that we help. It’s going to be a great evening!

Sandra Rasmussen

From the President

Meet a Tutor: Sheila Murphy Lawrence

Watching Students Blossom and Become More Confident in a Small Class

For 37 years Sheila Murphy Lawrence was a teacher in Massachu-setts so when she moved to Naples it was a natural fit for her to sign on as a volunteer with LVCC. When Sheila took the 16-hour Tutor Training course, she expected to be teaching people who had never learned to read or write Eng-lish, but quickly discovered that LVCC’s clients are mostly ESL

(English as a Second Language) students, often fluent in another language. “It is a com-pletely different tutoring experience, but one that I have come to enjoy,” said Sheila. Over the past few years, Sheila has tutored about 20 students in a small class on Monday evenings at LVCC offices. She tries to keep classes to less than six students at one time. Currently, she is tutoring three students, two of whom are husband and wife.

Making it Fun As all tutors know, this is a long-term project, so there is rarely dramatic evidence of stu-dents’ growth, but Sheila is pleased to see her students blossoming when they feel more comfortable using their growing English skills. “I particularly like the small class format because I can see my students grow in confidence when they can help each other understand concepts. They always have fun as well,” ex-plained Sheila. Sheila covers multiple subjects in class, including geography and history, and uses many dis-ciplines, including reading, talking and listening to foster understanding and yet keep things interesting for adults. She also tries to make things fun, and will use games such as “Wheel of Fortune” or a version of Scrabble to vary the learning experience of her students. Sheila also received a number of suggestions from our own Barbara Saner, one of her tutor train-ers who has lots of experience in tutoring small classes. Barbara is also an LVCC board member. Sheila has found her overall experience with tutoring to be emotionally very rewarding. “My students have to face many difficulties in their lives and yet they are so appreciative of their experience with me that it has really made an impact on my life, as well as theirs,” she added. Janet Saltarelli Board member and Tutor Retention Committee chair

COMMUNITY OUTREACH The Communication and Marketing Committee is looking for opportunities to share information about our organization. We will present an information session in your community, organization or club. If you are interested contact Fran Sills at 239-732 -7609.

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Welcome to a New Group of Tutors

A new group of tutors graduated from the October Tutor Training session which was conducted by Margaret Leonard and Danny Tyler. On the final afternoon of the training the new volunteer tutors received their graduation certificates and met their mentors. Each new tutor was assigned a student. The graduates are: James Sensale ,Anne Vitale, Edward Sisk, Carole Helsel, Elizabeth Geiser, Elizabeth Rand,Harry Thompson,William Hamilton,Lili Beth Hamilton, Jane Kiena, Julie Peterson, Laura Levine, and Carole Brandt.

A Anchor Health Centers D DeAngelis Diamond Construction F Fred Astaire Dance Studio H HMA I Intech Printing K Key Private Bank L LVCC Board of Directors M Mon Bijoux N Naples Daily News P PNC Wealth Management R Randall Mitchell Companies U Naples United Church of Christ

To sponsor a letter please call: 239� 262-4448

2010 ALPHABET PROJECT

Thank You To Our Sponsors

A New Approach to Mentoring Tutor Volunteers

For some months the Program Committee has been developing a different mentoring effort as a way to make our new tutors feel more secure and confident. Tutor volunteers graduating from the October Tutor Training will be the first to benefit from the im-plementation of this new approach. “We believe that with a defined, structured mentoring program LVCC will be more successful in retaining our tutors,” said Flora Metrick, chair of the Program Committee. Tutor retention has become an important focus of Board and the Committee as attri-tion of volunteer tutors has been rising in the past two years.

Motivate The mentors will act as a guide and an example to new tutors during their first year of tutoring. The Committee expects the mentors to be readily available to motivate, support and offer problem solving skills to the new tutors. It is also anticipated that the mentors will encourage new tutors to meet as a group to dis-cuss their early tutoring experiences. New tutors will be contacted initially within two weeks after a student has been assigned to them, and there will be follow-up contacts on a regular basis throughout the year. Ingrid Fernandez Program Coordinator

Potential Readers

Invitations are continuing to be extended to potential readers for LVCC’s first Read-A-Thon (RAT) at Books-a-Million, Mercato Center, Naples, on Tuesday, January 25th, 2011. Al-ready 11 people have stepped forward and are currently de-ciding what special, five-minute long passage they will read during the four-hour reading relay.

January 25th falls into the week-long event called “Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida!” organized by the State’s Department of Education. The aim is to raise awareness of the positive things happening in organizations such as LVCC as well as in school districts to promote literacy and the enjoyment of reading.

All the readers will be seeking sponsors to raise money for LVCC and word has it that one reader has already found a sponsor to the tune of $500. A prize will be awarded to the reader who produces the largest pot of cash for LVCC. A RAT Rehearsal will be held at Wilderness County Club on Monday, January 17th between 5:00pm and 7:00pm for read-ers to practice under the guidance of Dallas Dunnagan, artis-tic director of The Naples Players.

Be sure to mark your calendar to be at BAM! between 4:00pm and 8:00pm and support the readers and LVCC’s mission.

Carol Class Students and tutors are invited to join Flora Metrick’s twice-weekly conversation classes at LVCC offices to rehearse Christmas car-ols. Classes begin at 4:30pm and end at 6:00pm. The plan is to send an LVCC choir caroling during the holidays.

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Tutoring Tip of the Month

Picture Fun

The purpose of this exercise is to practice the structure “there is/there are”, singular and plural forms as well as review vo-cabulary.

Materials: Copies of a picture for each student, board and chalk or markers.

Preparation: Find a picture with quite a lot going on in it in terms of numbers of people and objects.

Procedure:

1. Give your students the picture and tell them they will have 2 minutes to look at it. They may not write anything at this point.

2. After 2 minutes, collect the pictures and ask the students to write the words for what they saw in the picture. Give them a time limit.

3. Make two columns on the board, one headed “there is” and one headed “there are.”

4. When the time limit is up, ask the students to write their lists on the board in the appropriate columns.

Return the picture to the students and compare their lists to the picture.

For higher-level students, leave out the “there is/there are” component and ask them to write sentences or phrases about the picture instead of words.

The tip is from the Minnesota Literacy Council. Visit them at www.themlc.org/Tutor_Tips.html

Urgent Needs to Improve Operations

If you happen to flick the pages of LVCC’s “Wish Book List” on the sign-in table at the office entrance, you will see at least ten items urgently needed to improve our operations. The list includes five new computer work stations at a cost of approxi-mately $400 to replace the old sagging and unsightly ones cur-rently in use. There’s also a need for a PA system for use at special LVCC fund-raising events and at tutor/student picnics ($900); three digital voice recorders ($99.99 each); one new desk with returns for administrative use ($925 approximately); new computers to replace the old ones which were donated and are now at the end of their useful life ($700 each); news-paper and magazine rack for the front office reception area; CD/cassette player/recorder for on-site student use ($105) and an external hard drive to keep large LVCC files, photos and documents ($21.99).

The prices are just for guidance, but if anyone can help supply any of the wish list items, LVCC would be eternally grateful.

If you would like to donate an item on our wish list, please call Elaine Mayrides at (239) 262-4448 x 302.

Agreeable Trash Talk

Who would have thought that recycling could be entertaining and educational at the same time? David Jaye of Collier County’s Public Utilities Division, Soldid/Waste department, turned LVCC’s monthly round table into an engaging hour and a half for tutors and students recently. Armed with an impressive PowerPoint presentation and plenty of useful, colorful reading material, David challenged the group to use and understand new words as they applied to trash and recycling. He fielded questions with aplomb and took time to make sure the audience had absorbed recycling lessons.

Changes or Adjustments

Responses to the e-mailed questionnaire to our tutors have been flowing in and Janet Saltarelli, of the Tutor Retention Committee, is busy collating the answers which will be pre-sented to the Program Committee for action. If you have re-ceived a questionnaire but not yet completed it, please try to return it quickly so that the Committee can make any changes or adjustments based on tutors’ input.

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Literacy Volunteers of Collier County 281 Airport Pulling Road South Naples, FL 34104

Address Correction Requested

Thank You

Permit #275

Deliver To:

Make a Donation Now and Make a Difference

Name ____________________________________________________

Address____________________________________________________

City ____________________________________________________

State _________________________ Zip ______________________

Home _________________________ Cell _______________________

E-mail ____________________________________________________

Amount $25 $50 $75 $100 Other $_______

Please return your check made out to LVCC to us at 281 Airport Road So.

Naples, FL 34104 or use the enclosed envelope.

Thank you for helping us continue to make a

difference in Collier County!