LAKEPORT >> At the main study area in the Lakeport Library, new volunteer tutors for the Lake County Library Adult Literacy Program were given copies of a simple, one-paragraph transcription of a student’s interest in quilting.
“One time me and sis made the log cabin pattern quilt and it won first prize at the fair back in Missouri,” the six-sentence story concluded. “We was proud of them ribbons.”
With its grammatical errors and basic vocabulary usage, most would suspect the writing of a pioneer, or perhaps of an elementary school student beginning to describe and navigate life’s reality. Hardly the rhetoric of an adult.
But just as words have various meanings determined by the context, program coordinator Ginny DeVries and staff sees the aptly-named “experience story” differently. To those intent on helping build language skills, it is a bridge to connect some Lake County’s struggling residents to the critical skills of reading and writing.
The story and other learning methods are part of the program’s philosophy of student-centered teaching where the curriculum is customized to fit the needs of the pupil.
There are no textbooks. In fact, learning materials can be found throughout Lake County Library’s collection of books or magazines.
“They set the goals,” staff member Laura Kirk said. “Their reasons are valid and that’s what we respect.”
This approach, according to DeVries, is one of the most effective methods of teaching students that are functionally illiterate. This group may pick up on a few basics, but they lack the ability to read and write well enough to function independently in society. The program encourages them to explore the topics/publications that interest them either for their own personal enjoyment or to advance their careers.
“Different things work for different students,” she said. “They tell us what they need and we try to find the best materials and tutor for them.”
The past, present, and future of Lake County Literacy
For nearly 30 years the program has helped hundreds of students accomplish goals such as acquiring a GED, overcoming or coping with learning disabilities and receiving driver’s licenses. Some were able to finally read to their children.
DeVries estimated that about 120 people use the free program each year, but the functionally illiterate rate in the county is still high at 20 percent.
“I would say it’s probably higher,” she said. “I’m sure we’ve done a tremendous amount of help but exactly what I don’t know.”
Those figures are also hard to track for two reasons: many people recycle through the program and the program’s marketing is based on word of mouth.
“The program is constantly changing,” she added.
A demographic that they have made an impact on lately is college students, especially those that attend Mendocino and Woodland (formerly Yuba) Community College. Of the approximately 57 students in the program, between 20 and 25 percent of them are college-aged adults who need remedial help.
According to the coordinator, one of them is a straight-A student but due to her learning disability, it took her way longer to finish assignments.
The credit for her and other student successes go to their determination, but praise was also given to the program’s 57 tutors.
“Her tutor worked with her to read, write and study more effectively,” she said. “So many of them have real of love reading… it’s a gift they want to share with other people.”
Long-time tutor Jo Ann Morgan agreed and further noted that it’s the bonds with four of her students that she cherishes the most and keeps her coming back.
“”It doesn’t take very long to grow fond of a student who is determined to learn,” Morgan said. “It’s very rewarding.”
As for the future, DeVries hopes to expand to the program to Middletown and to revive an old aspect of it that taught literacy to those in the county jail. It previously died because the specially-trained tutors moved away.
“That’s really important because 80 percent of the people in jails have some kind of reading problem,” she said. “We want to do what we can.”
