After a special meal of tostadas, meat loaf, and other homemade treats, students and tutors at the Central Coast Literacy Council’s Guadalupe center were recognized for another successful year of spreading literacy on the Central Coast.
Tutors presented about a dozen women with certificates of achievement for completing English workbooks and other exercises throughout the year. Most of the council’s seven centers are closing for the summer. They’re scheduled to open again in early September.
“This time of year, most of our students are working in the fields, or their husbands are, so it’s difficult for them to get away,” Guadalupe center tutor Herbert Burch said.
The center does a lot of outreach efforts to people interested in learning English. But it also needs more tutors.
“We need people living in Guadalupe,” Central Coast Literacy Council’s executive director Isa Ponce-Jimenez said, adding that the organization will offer free tutor training in October.
Tutors volunteer at the center two times a week, during which they help students with worksheets and other activities.
Burch, who’s been with the center for five years, said he likes to take a more hands-on approach when teaching his students.
“We’ll make beef stew and I’ll start out
by talking about the raw ingredients,” he said. “Then I’ll go over the different words for what you’re doing, like chopping
carrots. … I find it’s better if they experience it firsthand.”
For more information about the Central Coast Literacy Council, its centers, and services, including onsite childcare, visit centralcoastliteracy.org. People interested in becoming tutors can call Ponce-Jimenez at 925-0951, Ext. 836.
This article appears in May 27 – Jun 3, 2010.