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| For Release: IMMEDIATE | Contact: Public Affairs |
| Date: July 20 , 2004 | (919) 807-6963 |
COMMUNITY COLLEGES’ "RACE 4 LITERACY" CAMPAIGN BEGINS SECOND YEAR DURING STATEWIDE CONFERENCE
Winston-Salem: More than 800 Basic Skills instructors, directors, coordinators and volunteers with local literacy councils will gather this week to share best practices, learn new teaching methods, and celebrate excellence. The 2004 Basic Skills and Family Literacy Conference takes place at the Adam’s Mark Winston Plaza in Winston-Salem. The conference begins at 1:30 PM on Wednesday, July 21 and ends on Friday, July 23.
The theme of this year’s conference is "Race 4 Literacy: It’s Everybody’s Business." The Race 4 Literacy campaign, designed to increase awareness in our state about literacy and its importance, begins its second year with a kick-off on Wednesday during the opening session. A Race 4 Literacy showcase will demonstrate how the campaign is increasing literacy rates in the state. Since the theme of the campaign is racing, there will also be a racing simulator at the conference to energize and entertain the participants.
The goal of Race 4 Literacy is to increase the number of adults pursuing their basic skills. According to Dr. Randy Whitfield, Associate Vice President, Basic Skills, the numbers are increasing, especially for GED rates.
"We can see a marked increase in interest in the GED since the campaign began last year," said Whitfield. "We expect when the final numbers are tabulated, they will show the participation rate is higher."
Conference participants will get a "pep talk" from Dr. John Roueche, Professor and Director of the Community College Leadership Program at the University of Texas at Austin. Roueche delivers the keynote address on Wednesday afternoon.
The conference provides opportunities for extensive learning experiences and the workshop topics reflect the varied approaches to learning. Topics include: Methods for Teaching ESL Students; Parents as Teachers: An Effective Approach for Emergent Literacy; Gangs in Schools: Signs, Clothing, and Gang Mentality; Teaching with Movies/Cinema; and Value of Arts in Compensatory Education.
"Folks in the field need to learn the newest methods for teaching adults," says Whitfield. "Successful instruction is tied to student’s lives and we all need to know how to connect with our students to make the learning experience a positive one."
Two Basic Skills success stories will be celebrated during the luncheon session on Thursday, July 22, when the Angela Moore Trogdon Basic Skills Instructor of the Year and Student of the Year are recognized.
Barbara Miller is the 2004 Student of the Year. Now a student at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Miller was shipping supervisor at a textile manufacturing plant. When the plant closed, finding another job was impossible. She had a second grade reading score and no high school diploma. Though she battles multiple sclerosis, she has missed few classes. She says she wants her grandchildren to see "Nana" graduate. Miller also volunteers at the local hospital and in the classroom, helps her daughter in her business, and cares for her sister who suffered a stroke.
Instructor of the Year, Pat Tanksley, is an Adult Basic Skills instructor at Piedmont Community College. Tanksley left private industry in 1990 to teach Basic Skills as a part-time Adult High School instructor at PCC. She was employed at PCC as a part-time Workplace Basic Skills instructor at Collins and Aikman (C&A) in Roxboro, using innovative methods to reach students. She created a reading program using racing themes for a student who loved stock cars. She began full-time status at C& A a year later. She now serves approximately 1,200 students each year at two C&A sites for all three shifts.
Family literacy is another major emphasis of the conference, achieved through a partnership with the NC Department of Public Instruction’s Even Start program. There will be about 150 Even Start participants at the conference. The purpose of the Even Start Family Literacy Program is to help break the cycle of poverty and illiteracy by improving the educational opportunities for families. Even Start integrates early childhood education, adult literacy and adult basic education, and parenting education into a unified literacy program. This collaborative effort offers a more in-depth program with a concentration in family literacy.
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