| Putting the Community in Community Partnership
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LVCA student, Amy, and her tutor, Maggie, chat about their work together.
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At Literacy Volunteers, we see the power of partnerships every day with our students and tutors. We see the life-affirming changes that happen when we work together. This is why we love partnering with neighboring community organizations.
Thomas Jefferson Adult Career Education (TJACE) offers free ESOL, GED, and career-readiness courses to area adults. Because of our shared mission, we naturally share students, and we regularly work together to ensure that we are supporting our students as best as we can.
As part of Welcoming Week, we once again partnered together to show how our extraordinary students are working to create a bright future for themselves and Charlottesville. Two of the students, Amy and Weimin, are both in the phlebotomy program at PVCC and have been working with their tutors. Amy recently passed and has received her certification. Weimin is in the process of receiving hers. We are so proud of their work and so grateful to their tutors, Maggie and Susan, for their tremendous support.
Watch the videos to hear more about their stories. To read more about our partnership with TJACE, click the button below.
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LVCA student, Weimin, and her tutor, Susan talk about classes, tutoring, and partnership.
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Planning for Wordplay 2025 has already begun, and we need you! We are actively recruiting folks for our planning committee. Help make Charlottesville's favorite trivia fundraiser a success! Do you have any leads for sponsors? We are reaching out to possible organizations and always welcome any suggestions. For those who aren't familiar with the event, Wordplay is a team-based trivia fundraiser held annually at the Paramount. Because it is LVCA's sole event fundraiser, it is critical that it is a success. If you're interested in helping out, please reach out to Ellen.
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| LVCA Honors Constitution Week with New Citizenship Classes
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Every year, the U.S. honors the signing of the Constitution on September 17 with Constitution or Citizenship Day, followed by an entire week of events. The United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) explains it as such: "USCIS celebrates Constitution Week by celebrating the connection between the Constitution and citizenship, reflecting on what it means to be a citizen of the United States... The Constitution plays a meaningful role in the lives of all Americans, but particularly for those who are Americans by choice."
This year, Literacy Volunteers celebrated Constitution Week the best way we know how: with the return of our citizenship classes! We are proud to offer a Basic-English Citizenship Class and multiple in-person and Zoom Intermediate Citizenship classes. In Fiscal Year 24, 47 LVCA students passed their Citizenship Interview. We celebrate each and every one of them, both during Citizenship Day and throughout the year! Learn more about our citizenship program here.
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| A Note About Upcoming Trainings
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Catherine at August's tutor training, where we trained 16 new tutors!
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We trained 10 new tutors in September! Our waiting list booms over the summer, and so we are grateful to every new tutor!
We especially want to thanks Bojangles' owner, A.D. Haywood, for generously donating lunch! A known champion of literacy, Mr. Haywood sponsors local scholarships, called The Bojangles Promise of Tomorrow, inspired by his own novel The Promise of Tomorrow; supports book clubs in local high schools; and plans to offer a free Bo Berry biscuit each month to area students who read at least 3 books. You can learn more about his work here.
If you own or know of a local business who would be willing to donate lunch for tutor training, please reach out to Ellen.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer, we have three upcoming training opportunities.
We want to take a moment and update you on our new tutor training policy. After careful consideration and consulting other literacy organizations, we have made the decision to implement a small fee for our tutor training ($30), starting with our October training. A fee for tutor training is in line with decades of practice in other community-based literacy organizations, dating back to the origins of "Literacy Volunteers of America."
Due to unexpected grant limitations this year, we currently have a budget deficit. The new fee will help offset some of the costs of materials, background checks, and staff time. Most importantly, we made this decision so that we can avoid charging student fees. Our services will continue to remain free for students.
We are grateful to our tutors for their commitment to literacy. Please do not hesitate to reach out to our executive director, Ellen, with any questions or concerns.
Visit literacyforall.org/tutors for more information.
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