I Read Aloud Veterans Day Tribute

Many thanks to the veterans and other community members who came out to read letters home from Japan, journal entries from Iraq, and children's stories and dedicated their reading to loved ones that they read to or those who read to them.  It was a great event that we hope to recreate in a multlitude of settings for a deeply personal connection to the importance of literacy in our lives.  Thanks to Barnes & Noble in Metairie for hosting us!

Join us for a tour of historic homes on Esplanade Ridge on December 6, 1-5pm.  Tickets are $20 and proceeds benefit the Literacy Alliance.  Many thanks to the Bed & Breakfast Inns of New Orleans for hosting this fun event with us.  Download the flyer to put up in your neighborhood or workplace. 

You can purchase tickets online here or get information for purchasing tickets in person or by mail.

Upcoming Events:

December 2 - 9am: Monthly ABE Supervisors Meeting 9am - 10:30am  Location:  Loyola University, Lindy Boggs Literacy Center

December 4 - 8:30am Training to use the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) and Official Practice Test of the GED.  FREE to Literacy Alliance members.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to register and download the membership form here

December 5 - 8:30am - 4pm at Loyola University - 2nd Annual NOLA Learning Differences Conference - 5 hours of professional development credit.  Contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Monthly Provider Meeting

Our Calendar is not working at present, so if you are checking in this week - our monthly meeting of the Supervisors of Adult Basic Education programs is happening on Wednesday October 7 at 9am.  Our host this month is Jefferson Parish Adult Education - at their Causeway site.

We will be talking about some recommendations to the Workforce Investment Act Reauthorization and updates on the Literacy Mayor Initiative - getting the issue of adult literacy into the community and onto the agendas of New Orleans mayoral candidates.

Barnes & Noble Bookfair

We also have our Barnes & Noble Bookfair coming up - November 4 - 11.  Vouchers will be available on the website soon to use that week in bookstores NATIONWIDE (how cool is that?!) that will give a portion of the proceeds to the Literacy Alliance.  There will be several events in the store that week including a book signing by author Sara Roahen, of this year's One Book One New Orleans selection - Gumbo Tales: Finding my Place at the New Orleans Table.

We are working on planning a Veterans Day "I Read Aloud" event at the store - if you have connections to a local veterans group, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it soon.  In this event, you dedicate your reading to someone you know who has a literacy issue or someone who helped you with your literacy.  We're really excited and looking forward to this one!

B&B Tour

The Bed and Breakfast Tour of homes for literacy now has an official name, date and time and will soon have a cool official logo and flyer to go along with it.  "Beds to Read Inn" will be held on Sunday, December 6 from 1 - 5pm along Esplanade Ridge.  You can go to the quarter, stop by the B&B Tour and then head to City Park to see the lights. 

COABE

I am heading for the regional COABE meeting in Atlanta at the end of the month for some literacy celebrity stalking.  The famous and fabulous Stephen Brookfield is scheduled to speak, and I will probably be too intimidated to say anything, but maybe he'll sign one of my favorite books of his,  "Adult Education, Adult Learners and the Community."

I am also working on submitting a presentation to the COABE/ProLiteracy Conference in March next year in Chicago.  But what I really want is a conversation instead of a presentation to talk with other experts on the questions I still have regarding literacy and public policy.  Getting English/Texas help this afternoon.  I'll let you know!

Learning Always

Rachel

One Book One New Orleans got off to a very strong start last week with a kickoff event attended by over 300 guests, 5 chefs with gumbo ladles, 24 AmeriCorps members, 2 drowned out speeches and 1 book.  If you haven't gotten a copy of Gumbo Tales by Sara Roahen yet - you can get one at any library.  You can also shop one of our local bookstores next week and use the coupon in today's paper to get 20% donated to the One Book project.  They also just released the Chapters of activities, so check out the website, read and come out to an event!

Literacy*AmeriCorps is also starting off with a bang and hosting a National Day of Service for over 100 AmeriCorps members from groups all over the region on Friday, September 11 at Loyola University.  Go Sarah!

We are very excited to start working with our 4 new Transition Coach members who will be helping GED students make the transition to their next step towards college, training or jobs.  There is a NIFL Special Topics discussion about this going on next week (www.nifl.gov) and one of our members is participating in the World Education/ProLiteracy class on best practices in transition starting in October.  The members are currently building their database of contacts and connections to all of the various training providers in the region, if you know of one or are one, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it so we can let the GED students know what you have to offer!

Lastly, we finally have a Facebook page! See the link at the bottom of the home page and become a fan.

Learning Always, Rachel

Week of New Beginnings

We are very excited to welcome our new class of Literacy*AmeriCorps members this week.  20 fresh new faces are in orientation, learning about literacy, reading, service and filling out a lot of paperwork before they join their literacy program sites as full time teachers and tutors next week. 

We are also very excited to have 4 new members who will be doing a new job through the new grant we received through the stimulus package.  These members will be working as Transition Coaches to help the learners in their programs make the leap from adult basic education to college, training or jobs.  We are so excited to fill in this piece of the puzzle for service to the adults in our community seeking to improve their lives.

One Book One New Orleans is also kicking off this week with a Gumbo Tasting at the Latter Library on St. Charles Avenue to celebrate the 2009 book selection, Gumbo Tales: Finding my Place at the New Orleans Table by Sara Roahen.  Join us on Wednesday August 26, read the book, support someone you know with literacy issues and participate in some of the upcoming activities around the book.

Finally, we are thankful to announce the date for our first fundraising event ever - Sunday, December 6 - a tour of Bed and Breakfast homes in Esplanade Ridge.  Many thanks to the Professional Innkeepers Association of New Orleans for opening up your homes for literacy!  Details to come, so mark your calendars!

Learning Always, Rachel