Lawrenceville, January 30, 2013 – Some 28% of Atlantans cannot read on a 5th grade level, according to Literacy Volunteers of Metropolitan Atlanta Executive Director Victoria Kingsland who spoke at the Philadelphia Winn Chapter National Society Daughters of the American Revolution monthly meeting on January 20.
“Don’t assume the 28% is made up of immigrants,” Victoria said. “Most are native Atlantans who for one reason or another never learned to read.”
The immigrant LVMA student population is growing and range from adults who are not literate in their own language to adults with a PhD. All come to LVMA to learn English language skills.
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“People want to be literate to have a job or read to their children,” she said. “Many of them have a high school education, but can’t read past the fifth grade level.”
She described how LVMA enhances the lives of families, workers, and communities through the power of literacy facilitated by volunteer tutors. “If you teach one person in a family to read,” she noted, “you affect that family for generations to come.”
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LVMA has over 1200 volunteers working in Metro Atlanta. One of those is Philadelphia Winn Daughter Mary Lou Godbey, who chairs the chapter’s Literacy Promotion Committee. Like all LVMA tutors, she attended an orientation followed by scheduled training sessions. She then prepared lessons and met with her student one on one. A volunteer must commit to tutor an adult student at least two hours a week for one year.
It is a big commitment, but worth the effort. As Victoria pointed out, “No one can ever take a good education away from you.”
For more information about LVMA, email www.lvama.org. For more information about Philadelphia Winn NSDAR, please email philwinndar@gmail.com.
Caption: Literacy Volunteers of Metropolitan Atlanta Executive Director Victoria Kingsland