ADULT EDUCATION
58
Treasure Coast Education
receive no government funding; thus,
all our support comes from individuals,
businesses and foundations,” Silva
says. There is no charge to students for
the private tutoring sessions.
TUTORS A KEY
The coveted ability to read is gained
through successful pairings of tutors
and students, who can range in age
from the late teens to the 80s. Luz Ma.
Camacho, executive director of Learn
to Read of St. Lucie County, says a
wide variety of students come to the
agency for help. One is an 83-year-old
grandmother who wants to be able to
read to her grandchildren. The goal
of another student, Haiti-born Rosalie
Jean-Baptiste, 40, is to earn her
GED certificate.
Tutors, who attend a half-day
workshop before being assigned
to a student, are in short supply. In
each county there is a waiting list of
students hoping to be paired up with
the one person who will guide them
toward their goal. For the three agencies,
success depends on their ability
With the help of Luz Ma. Camacho, executive director of Learn to Read of St. Lucie County, Rosalie
Jean-Baptiste is learning the reading skills she needs to earn her general equivalency diploma.
to match potential students with the right tutors, not always
an easy task. One of the problems in setting up tutoring sessions
is coordinating personal schedules, Silva says. The most
difficult aspect of her job is telling an eager student he will
have to wait for a tutor to become available.
Donna Golet, adult literacy coordinator for the Martin
County center, agrees. “A difficult side of the job is matching
the tutor/student meeting schedules and preferences. Occasionally,
it takes more time to coordinate meeting days and
times due to volunteer and learner activities and results in
learning delays for the student.”
Learn to Read of St. Lucie County has established a language
lab that allows students to get a head start while waiting
for a tutor, Camacho says.
The one-on-one tutoring sessions are conducted in public
places, frequently a library meeting room, although the
agency might not be affiliated with the library system. Tutors
are both full-time and seasonal residents, but they all want to
share their love for reading and learning, Golet says. “They
want to help people in need and share the joy that reading
and learning has brought to them. It feels great to help individuals
and families in the community.”
Camacho calls volunteers “the backbone of our organization,”
one that was founded in St. Lucie County in 1981 by
Dorothy Brennan. Brennan was determined that an incident
described in a local newspaper — a mother had given her
child an overdose of medicine because she wasn’t able to
read the instructions on the label — would never happen to
another parent.
Personal rewards come to the agencies’ directors as well as
to the students. For Silva, it’s “hearing a student say she was
able to help her child with homework for the first time, or
had been promoted in her job because of improved reading
skills. Being able to order something other than a hamburger
from a menu is a huge step (forward),” Golet says. “It is a
wonderful feeling to see the delight a student expresses when
they are presented a diploma or certificate of completion. I
enjoy helping people who help others.” And for Camacho,
“Helping our learners improve their lives is the most rewarding
part of the job.”
Hundreds of Treasure Coast students move along the path
to literacy each year, but Camacho says, “Our goal is to be
out of business. We would love to not be needed.”
WANT TO VOLUNTEER?
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY
Mary Silva, executive director
Literacy Services of Indian River County, Inc.
1600 21st St., Vero Beach, FL 32960 (IRC main library)
Tel. 772.778.2223
Web site: www.literacyservicesirc.org
ST. LUCIE COUNTY
Luz Ma. Camacho, executive director
Learn to Read of St. Lucie County, Inc.
809 Delaware Ave., Fort Pierce, FL 34950
Tel. 772.464.2742
Web site: www.learntoreadslc.com
Email: learntoreadslc@aol.com
MARTIN COUNTY
Donna Golet, adult literacy coordinator
Center for Reading & Literacy
Martin County Library System
2351 S.E. Monterey Road, Stuart, FL 34996
Tel. 772.219.4960
Web site: www.library.martin.fl.us
/www.literacyservicesirc.org
/www.learntoreadslc.com
/www.library.martin.fl.us
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