FALLS CHURCH, Va. (WUSA) -- The lessons sound ridiculously simple, but for these students, it might as well be in a foreign language, because it is. "Some students coming into our program might be learning the alphabet," explains Patti Donnelly, Executive Director of Literacy Council of NOVA. "Some might be learning to put together the word cat or dog."
These students come from all over the world, and have two things in common: they desperately want to learn English and they have come to the Literacy Council of Northern Virginia to do it. What makes this program unique is that it focuses on a beginner's level and there is no one else helping that population.
According to Donnelly, most of that help comes from over 1400 dedicated volunteers. In fact she adds that "in order to be a Literacy Council volunteer tutor, they have to take 12 hours of training to serve in the basic literacy program, or 16 hours of training to serve in the ESOL tutoring program."
Volunteer Anne Spear is one these dedicated tutors. She has spent over a year and a half with Bertha Beltran, a student who says her life has changed immensely. "I never thought I would be typing a letter in English or taking my brother or my sister a note to the doctor to interpret for them." Now she is doing all these things and becoming more active in her community.
Spear, a former Civics teacher, has encouraged Beltran to become vocal about community issues. "I'm very motivated to give someone a stronger voice to express their ideas and thoughts." Donnelly agrees, "When you teach someone to read, they have the skills to learn more and more," You've just given someone the keys to the kingdom."
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