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By Alice Bradshaw
Program Manager, Project Read-Menlo Park
Many adult learners at Project Read-Menlo Park, the adult literacy program in the Menlo Park Library, have gone far beyond studying English. They’ve become active members of the community.
For 25 years, Project Read has provided the only free adult literacy tutoring in the area, helping more than 3,000 adults.
After a 10-hour work day, would you study an additional three hours? Would you drive to Santa Clara from Menlo Park every month to practice public speaking in a language that is foreign to you? Would you give up two-days’ pay, travel to a conference and present a workshop illustrating how low-level literacy students can improve their lives and give back to their communities? Project Read learners have done all of these.
Martha Chavez has taken advantage of what Project Read has to offer. She first attended our English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the Belle Haven community and improved her English to the point where she was qualified to be matched with a tutor. Her tutor helped her get a library card and check out books, as well as get an e-mail account and search the Internet.
She prepared for the citizenship test with her tutor and is now a citizen of the United States. She won a refurbished computer for her family by writing an essay for our annual Win-A-Computer contest.
Another student, Raul Gonzalez, became a Project Read tutor one year after he began as a learner. He attended the Adult Learner Leadership Institute (ALLI), which trains and motivates students to improve their public speaking skills and promotes civic engagement.
He has spoken for Project Read at local events featuring nonprofits. “I represent Project Read, and I feel privileged to be among you,” he said at a recent event. “I feel inspired to give my best and to share my talents with others, and make this world a better place.”
To date, 10 of Project Read’s learners have graduated from Adult Learner Leadership Institute.
Raul, who is an artist, volunteers at the farmers’ market and summer block parties, where he does silhouettes and balloon art. He donates his tips to Project Read.
In October, at the California Library Association’s annual conference in Pasadena, he was one of five students who presented a workshop on how adult learners can give back to their communities.
At Project Read, our volunteer tutors helped their adult learners do many things, such as reading to their children, getting a better job, or learning to surf the Web. Then, the students gave back in ways we never imagined!
If you would like to become a Project Read tutor, please plan to attend our Tutor Training in January. Winter 2010 tutor training begins Wednesday, Jan. 27, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at the Burgess Recreation Center, 700 Alma St., Room 118, in Menlo Park.
Donations to The Almanac’s Holiday Fund benefit Project Read-Menlo Park.
■ Donate online to the Holiday Fund
