Santa Maria Library - There’s a New Website for Tutors!

There’s a New Website for Tutors!
Central Coast Literacy Newsletter: Spring 2010

Tutor911 is now available. Sharon Hushka, Bethel-Daytime Center Director, recently created a website with a variety of resources and information available for tutors to use as they endeavor to enhance the learning process for their students.

Some highlights are posted below.
The Tutor Workshop Handbook is available on-line, including the Table of Contents. The Life Skills page offers links to different subjects about the community, financial, and employment issues.

On the Tutor Aids page, resources offered include Dialogue: Common Student Goals. Starting with a list of more than a dozen broad topics, there are at least ten different questions (and answers) posted. These questions allow the students to discuss the different subjects. The interaction can be on a one-to-one basis or as part of a regular group discussion.

As a way to stay organized and to monitor a student's process, the tutor can use the Student Literacy Placement & Progress Record. This form provides links to resources found in the Tutor Workshop Handbook and entries for some of the materials used in teaching, i.e. English, No Problem! and Rosetta Stone.

The Central Coast Literacy Council, in partnership with the Santa Maria Public Library, has a newly redesigned website; check it out .

Santa Maria Library - Literacy project golden for scout, council and families

Literacy project golden for scout, council and families
Santa Maria Times: May 13, 2010 by Brian Bullock

Tatianna Kufferath loves reading and working with children.

So when she had to develop a project to earn her Girl Scouts Golden Award, combining the two passions was perfect.

The result is the Santa Maria Family Literacy Program, which helps parents with limited English skills learn the language so they can better help their children with their school work.

“It’s vital for a kid’s success in education to have that parental support,” Tatianna explained, sounding a lot like a passionate elementary school teacher. “A lot of parents really, really want to help their kids, but they don’t know how. I wanted to have a project that would help with that.”

Tatianna, a junior at Righetti High School in Orcutt, joined with Isa Ponce-Jimenez, director of the Central Coast Literacy Project, to develop the program. Ponce-Jimenez had wanted to develop a similar project ever since moving into the Santa Maria Public Library. Their collaboration has been golden for both women.

Tatianna, a Girl Scout since the third grade, will receive her Golden Award tonight at the Pacific Christian Center, where she attends church, and the program has blended beautifully into the Central Coast Literacy Project.

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The program, which started last summer, has approximately 20 mentors from Righetti High, where Tatianna is a junior, Pioneer Valley High and St. Joseph High. Tatianna said she is always looking for more. READ MORE !

Santa Maria Library - Families Team Up for Literacy

Families Team Up for Literacy
Santa Maria Times: July 31, 2009
msnbc.msn.com

For decades, experts have hammered home the importance of parental involvement in ensuring students' success in school.

Now, the experts at the Central Coast Literacy Council are putting their money where their mouth is.

The council piloted a program this summer that coaches parents on how to become more active in their child's academic lives with the goal of boosting student achievement.

The Family Literacy Program, which targets parents with limited English proficiency or who otherwise feel ill-equipped to help their children with school, is the first of its kind in north Santa Barbara County.

"Many parents think they are not good teachers and they are afraid," said Isa Ponce, CCLC executive director. "But (it's) wrong to think that way. Teaching begins at home."

The CCLC recently moved into its new home inside the Santa Maria Public Library, a location with enough space to host the Family Literacy Program.

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Sixteen teen volunteers, comprised mostly of Righetti High School students, meet with seven families once a week in the library for group activities and to go over strategies on subjects ranging from encouraging kids to read, to organization, to study skills.

Parents also are taught during the hour and a half-long sessions how to navigate the school system in order to ensure their child's needs get fulfilled. For information on becoming a program participant or volunteer, call 925-0951, Ext. 836. READ MORE !