Escondido literacy program helps people reach goalsNorth County Times: 6.06.07 By: Paul Eakins
ESCONDIDO -- When Araceli Capilla began taking literacy classes at Escondido Public Library, her goal was to improve the English she had learned in order to become a U.S. citizen after moving here from Mexico.
But three years later, Capilla, 45, has been inspired to go beyond simply speaking better.
The library's literacy program, in which Capilla and many other Escondido residents get one-on-one help from a tutor several days a week, has given her the English the longtime housewife needed to get a job. Eventually, she hopes to become a pharmacy technician, largely thanks to the teaching and inspiration of her tutor.
"She motivated me to set my goals," Capilla said last week. "When I came to this program, my English level was very low. The program's helped me to improve my speaking, reading and writing."
The literacy program began in 1990 and since has expanded its services, facilities and resources, said Josephine Jones, the program's director. Last year, 117 adults were tutored by about 85 volunteers, she said.
Native English speakers use the program to get their General Equivalency Diploma, or GED, or to improve basic skills they didn't fully acquire in their schooling.
"We started out as a literacy program for native English speakers who somehow had fallen through the cracks," Jones said at her office last week.
About four years ago, the library at 239 S. Kalmia opened a learning annex for the literacy program next door in a small, single-story building. The annex has a small computer lab, individual tutoring classrooms, and books, games and other learning tools.
Last year, the program expanded its English as a second language program by starting a group night class that meets three days a week. Soon, those classes will expand to two separate classes meeting four days a week, Jones said.
The night English class teacher is David Moskowitz, a retired businessman and Escondido resident, who said many of his students are parents whose children usually speak better English than they do, which can create tension.
"This is important for family dynamics," Moskowitz said. "Number one, they can help their children with schooling, and number two, they can communicate better (in English)."
The library also runs after-school literacy programs at five Escondido schools to give extra help to students who need it.
Funding for the literacy program's $300,000 budget comes from the city of Escondido, the state and grants, Jones said. An annual scrabble competition also raises money for the program, bringing in as much as $17,000 from its sponsors, she said.
Fran Caruso, a retired nurse from San Marcos, has tutored in the program for six years after previously tutoring elementary school students.
Teaching adults has its advantages and its challenges, she and Moskowitz said.
"Not all young children want to learn," Caruso said. "Whereas the adults who come here want to learn."
But the obstacle for adults is to be willing to ask questions and not be ashamed, the tutors said.
"The big step for anyone, ESL (English as a second language) or native speaker, is to come and say that they need help," Moskowitz said.
At the learning annex, Dorothy Black, a 48-year-old Jamaican immigrant, studied math last week from a book several inches thick with her tutor, Marshall Spenser of Vista, in preparation for taking her GED.
After first studying on her own but failing the test, she went to the literacy program for help about 1 1/2 years ago, Black said. Since then, she has passed the writing portion of the test and hopes to soon pass the math portion, she said.
Black's goal is to later become a nursing assistant, she said. She credited tutors such as Spenser, a 57-year-old retired soldier, with helping her achieve her dream.
"He's a blessing," Black said. "He's fun to work with, and whatever he's explaining to me makes it easier to understand."
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