Volunteering at Literacy services…
(click on the photos to enlarge them)
A few years ago, I was serving on the board of Artists Working in Education, and realized that I was wanting something more from my volunteer efforts. I could sit in meetings and make site-visits as I’d done for years on the A.W.E. board, but while I do believe strongly in that organization’s mission, I wanted to be more active with my time.
Heck, this post isn’t about me – it’s about a kind woman and a great Milwaukee organization. Here’s what you need to know about me: I’ve spent nearly 4 years being a tutor at Literacy Services of Wisconsin; I’ve always enjoyed reading, and helping others to have that same ability is real rewarding; volunteering at Literacy Services has been fulfilling and I can’t imagine a time where I wouldn’t want to be doing this every week.
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At Literacy Services, tutors and students are paired up and work together twice every week. In my 4 years, I’ve worked with 4 students. Students stop coming to lessons for any of a variety of reasons, but everyone that I have worked with, for whatever duration, have been interesting people to get to know and good students to work with.
My current student is named Mae. Mae was born and raised in Mississippi, the youngest of 10 children. She’s told me stories about growing up in rural Mississippi, about playing as a child on her family’s front porch, and about how talented of a gospel guitarist one of her brothers was. She’s told me how she participated in the Freedom March for civil rights, and how during those protests, she was arrested and spent two weeks in jail. Mae’s told me how she, her four children (3 sons, 1 daughter), and her mother moved from Mississippi to Wisconsin, after her father passed away, to be closer to one of her sisters. And now, she lives by herself in an apartment building for seniors, enjoys going to church, and socializing whenever she can.
And somehow, amidst her active, storied life, Mae never learned to read. That’s something that she’s diligently correcting now.
Twice a week, Mae comes to Literacy Services and works on her reading with me and another tutor (that tutor on Mondays, me on Wednesdays). We work on letter sounds, the various sounds vowels can make, consonant blends, reading fluency, and other concepts.
Like many of Literacy’s students, Mae was a bit nervous when she first started coming in for tutoring: “When I first came here, I was ashamed, and I didn’t think there were other people like me, but now I’m not ashamed. I’ve learned so much!”
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Literacy Services has a couple different programs that serve over 400 students/year. There is ABE, Adult Basic Education, which Mae is in. ELL – English Language Learning – serves students from over 50 different countries. GED Prep helps students get their high school diploma (over 20% of LSW’s GED students graduate with honors). Functional Literacy teaches basic computer and technology skills.
The work that LSW does is invaluable, and the difference it makes for its students is life-changing.
You can find LSW on Twitter and on Facebook!
