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[APRIL
22, 2000] The
great majority of you are taking something for granted
this very second. You are reading. Did
you know that a 12th grade literacy level is needed to
read and fully comprehend a newspaper article?
A National Adult Literacy Survey conducted in 1992
by the Department of Education found that 21 to 23 percent
of the adults in the U.S.A. function well-below the fifth
grade level – known as “level one” – in basic
reading, writing and computational skills necessary for
functioning in daily life. That’s
40 to 44 million of the 191 million adults living in the
United States. The
state of Illinois is very close to that national
statistic, with 20 percent of the adult population in
Illinois living with level one literacy abilities. Project READ, operating out of Heartland Community College,
is an adult literacy program that is crusading against
this problem in Lincoln.
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Project
READ is a free program with the major goal of providing
assistance to adults who reside in the Lincoln area and
are in need of basic literacy skills and/or learning
English as a second language.
The target population is anyone 16 years or older
who is officially withdrawn from high school and whose
reading abilities are below the ninth grade level.
The program is primarily funded by a grant from the
Illinois Secretary of State, but Heartland Community
College oversees the grant application and disbursement,
and provides instructional materials.
READ
stands for Reading Education for Adult Development. The local Project READ literacy coordinator, Louella
Moreland, is leading a group of volunteer tutors in this
fight to help adults in need of elementary education.
Currently there are 40 tutors working with adults
who are looking to better their lives by acquiring basic
reading, writing and math skills. There are 121 students
benefiting from the program at present.
Louella states, “These are not classes. They are
receiving ‘one-on-one’ tutoring.
[Louella
Moreland, Project READ literacy coordinator]
The
volunteers are required to attend a minimum of 12 hours of
pre-service training as well as other additional workshops
throughout the year.
They are asked to make at least an eight-week
commitment to the program, volunteering two to four hours
per week. Louella
Moreland is the coordinator who matches the tutors with
their students.
Elizabeth
Simmons, a local educator, volunteers for Project READ.
She holds an evident passion for this cause.
“I feel there is a great need for this type of
program in Lincoln. To
not be able to read at or above the ninth grade level, a
person is severely limited in our society.
I think it is good public policy to provide this
opportunity to those in need; to give them access to what
many others take for granted.”
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The
definition of illiteracy has changed in the face of a
world that is ever advancing technologically.
In its 1998 Adult Education and Family Literacy
Act, the U.S. Congress defines literacy as “an
individual’s ability to read, write and speak in
English, compute and solve problems, at levels of
proficiency necessary to function on the job, in the
family of the individual and in society.
The
false sense of shame that comes with adult illiteracy
causes mental and emotional
obstacles that are hard to overcome. Louella
Moreland says that adults dealing with illiteracy are very
good at hiding it. “They
develop great compensation skills. These are intelligent
people who just were not successful in going through the
school system.”
[Counting
the students by computer]
When
asked about adult illiteracy in Lincoln, Louella states,
“It is definitely a problem here in Lincoln. That
affects us all because these people are not getting the
necessary information to make choices for their own lives,
as well as choices toward others in the community.
For instance, voting can be a problem when you
can’t read the ballot.
It affects their home life…and even our business
community.”
Louella
holds a B.A. degree in elementary education from Illinois
Wesleyan and has post-graduate hours in education and
community arts. She
and her husband, Doug, have three children and gladly call
Lincoln home. Louella’s devotion to Project READ is a
reflection of her heart for Lincoln.
She says, “I believe strongly in this community.
I love the history and I love the people.”
For
more information about Project READ, call Louella Moreland
at Heartland College at 217-735-1731.
[Curtis
Sutterfield]
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