News

Literacy Council offers tutoring to local immigrants

By Tony Staley
Compass Correspondent

Interested in volunteering as a tutor? Contact your nearest literacy council Literacy councils operate in five communities in northeast Wisconsin. To learn about volunteering as a tutor, contact one of the following councils. • Appleton: Fox Valley Literacy Coalition; Rosemary Burns, executive director; 103 E. Washington St., Appleton. Phone: (920)991-9840; Web site: www.focol.org/literacy Provides both basic education and English as a Second Language training. For a schedule of orientation sessions and training workshops phone (920)991-9840. • Green Bay: Literacy Council of Brown County; Tori Rader, executive director; 424 S. Monroe Ave., Green Bay. Phone: (920)435-2474; Web site: www.lcbc.org Uses one-on-one tutoring for children and adults, English classes, computer lab, family literacy and workforce development to improve the ability to read, write and speak English. Send name, address, phone and e-mail to info@lcbc.org or phone 435-2474 for a 2007-08 tutor training schedule. • Luxemburg: Literacy Partners of Kewaunee County; Robert Garfinkel, president; 312 Maple St. Luxemburg. Phone: (920)845-2516 Tutors adults on a one-on one basis in reading, writing, and in many cases, speaking English. The program has 41 tutors who have been matched with 45 students, all from Kewaunee County. There are a half-dozen students on the waiting list. Tutors attend a one-hour orientation and 10.5 hours of instruction in three different sessions. Send name, address, phone and e-mail to rgarfinkel@centurytel.net or call (920)676-2061 for information or class schedule. • Oshkosh: Winnebago County Literacy Council; Liz Rice Janzen, executive director; 106 Washington Ave., Oshkosh. Phone: (920)236-5185; Web site: www.winlit.org The council needs people to work with children in the Family Literacy Program from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays or from 4 to 6 p.m. Mondays. Contact Deb Kortbein at (920)236-5219, ext. 4830. Information sessions are at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Nov. 6 and 14 and Dec. 4 and 19. • Shawano: Shawano County Literacy Council; Jean Bertling, treasurer; P.O. Box 577, Shawano. Phone: (715)524-6506. Offers ESL classes and one-on-one tutoring. Tutors are trained through the Brown County program.

GREEN BAY -- Call it a tale of two people:

• Carol Mueller, a retired customer service worker and homemaker, and a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, De Pere, someone eager to give back to her community for all she's received.

• Ramiro Rivera, 25, a native of Mexico and a member of St. Willebrord Parish, Green Bay, who works afternoons at American Foods, wants to pass the GED and improve his career opportunities.

Their connection is the Literacy Council of Brown County, where Mueller tutors Rivera twice a week in English and math. Their three-year effort is paying off: Rivera's improved English skills have already resulted in a better job and the confidence to go to a store and ask for what he needs.

Now multiply Mueller and Rivera by the hundreds to gain some idea of the impact Literacy Council programs in Green Bay, Appleton, Luxemburg, Oshkosh and Shawano are having on the lives of tutors and their students in northeast Wisconsin. Similar programs touch tens of thousands of more lives in communities across the country.

Despite the good the programs do for individuals and their communities, they report a common problem: far more students than there are tutors.

Becoming a tutor can seem intimidating for someone with no teaching background. Not to fear, said tutors, many of whom are not teachers: Literacy councils provide the resources and support that make tutoring both rewarding and easy.

"If they think they could never tutor, they should come to the workshops they hold here," Mueller said. "They teach you how to start and what to do. They move through all phases of the tutoring. Once you get involved it's very simple."

The lesson plans are laid out in the books. "There's nothing intimidating about it once you jump into it," Mueller added. "There's a little prep work that takes time at home. Of course we spend an hour-and-a-half here twice a week."

Ginger Hale, a member of St. Philip Parish, Green Bay, agreed. "I'm not a teacher," said Hale, a retired registered nurse and a tutor for nearly four years. "They train you well here. I like the one-on-one. I like the tutoring aspect.... I think anytime somebody can help another person you would enjoy that."

Marilyn Speck, a member of Prince of Peace Parish, Green Bay, is a retired fourth grade teacher at Holy Rosary School, Kewaunee. While she said tutoring wasn't much of an adjustment for her, she stressed that "anybody can do this because of the help they get. The materials are very good. The people here are very helpful and give us everything we need to know. You don't have to be a trained teacher to do this.... There are lots of materials here that do all the work for you."

For Mike Blecha, a member of Resurrection Parish, Allouez, becoming a tutor meant practicing what he preached. Blecha retired in 2002 from the Green Bay Press-Gazette after writing numerous editorials urging people to volunteer in the community, particularly as tutors at the Literacy Council.

"One of the things I find irritating is that there are a lot of people in this community that think our recent immigrants from Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, and from Laos, Vietnam and other southeastern Asian countries don't want to learn English. That's certainly false if you look at the classes that are full here all the time and by the waiting lists for tutors," said Blecha, now in his fifth year of tutoring.

"So many people have misconceptions about people coming here and not wanting to learn English and that's just wrong. I'd challenge those people to become tutors here so they can become part of the solution here, rather than part of the problem," Blecha said.

As students learn English, their lives change, Hale said. "They're able to do more. They can improve their status. Because they can speak English they are able to help their own children in English."

For example, Hale's student, Hilda Muro's 9-year-old son reads to her in English and she reads back to him.

Muro, a member of St. Willebrord Parish, Green Bay, is learning cursive writing and is developing a large vocabulary. She said she enjoys reading and writing in English.

Muro is Hale's second student. Her first one is now a translator for Green Bay Public Schools, a rewarding feeling for Hale.

Other students have similar hopes for a brighter future. Blecha's first student moved to Wausau for a better job. His current student, Frank, has his eye on a second promotion. Plus, he's receiving his degree in welding from Northwest Technical College in December.

Speck's student, Gloria Corona, a member of St. Willebrord Parish, Green Bay, also is counting on a better job as her English improves.

Tutoring brings other benefits, tutors said.

"You meet a new friend and you learn a new culture," Hale said. "I never really traveled out of the country and I have gotten to know different cultures this way."

Blecha said he still sees his first student and his family twice a year. He has gotten to know Frank and his family, including his four children, ages 5, 9, 14, 16. Frank calls Blecha, not only his tutor, but "a good person and a friend."

Such bonds between tutors and students are not unusual, though not a requirement of tutoring, said Kathy Cornell, program coordinator for the Literacy Council of Brown County. Some celebrate birthdays or the anniversary of their match.

The Green Bay council has 140 tutors, who are actively matched with 160 students, Cornell said. About 70 other people have completed the basic English classes offered mornings and evenings at the Literacy Council and on Sundays at St. Willebrord, making them eligible for tutors. Another 20-25 students will join the waiting list in January.

Potential tutors go through an orientation session and 14 hours of training before starting. They are matched with a student based on tutor preferences, which can include age, gender, nationality and scheduling. The council has rooms on-site for tutoring, Cornell said.

Although orientation has already taken place for November classes, Cornell said potential tutors can call her and still be enrolled for the next round of four-day training workshops. Sessions will be offered Nov. 5, 7, 12 and 14. Enrollees can choose either mornings, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., or evenings, 6-9:30 p.m. The phone number is (920)435-2474.

As Mueller put it, "If you're willing to do it and have the time to do it, it's well worthwhile because you're helping other people."