Redlands Family’s Literacy Journey Leads To Educational, Employment
Opportunities
Redlands
Daily Facts: 8.01.2020 by Diane
Shimota, Adult
Literacy Coordinator-A.K. Smiley Library
Many adults who join the Redlands Adult Literacy Program want
to improve their reading and writing skills so they can get better jobs,
further their own education, and advocate for their children. Through hard work
and perseverance adult learners can change their own and their family’s lives
for the better.
The following is a story of adult learners
who graduated from the Redlands Adult Literacy Program and, with their new
literacy skills, started a business, earned a GED, and encouraged their
children to excel in their education.
Monica Sanchez joined the adult literacy
program in February 2014 because she needed to become an advocate for her
special needs son. Working with her tutor, Rebecca McCurdy, she gained literacy
skills that enabled her to communicate effectively with teachers and medical
professionals, understand medical directives, and support her son. Monica’s
goals changed over time to include dreams of attaining her GED, supporting her
children with their education, and getting a better job. Monica diligently
worked for four years in the literacy program to improve her reading, grammar,
vocabulary, and writing. She celebrated when she earned her GED in 2017 because
this opened doors to better employment.
In 2018, she was hired by the Redlands
Unified School District to work as a campus monitor at an elementary school.
Monica shared, “I liked being a campus monitor; it was a fun and comfortable
job for me. I was playing with kids and getting paid for that.”
When the coronavirus pandemic forced the
closure of schools, Monica, like so many others, found herself unemployed. She
eventually began working as a DoorDash driver and used this as an opportunity
to teach her younger children about what it was like to have a job and manage
their own money; they helped her leave meals on porches and Monica gave them an
allowance of $1 per delivery.
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Monica’s husband, Armando Sanchez, also
joined the literacy program in 2014. His goals were to improve his reading and
writing in order to advance at his job at Ashley Furniture and to have a better
life. READ
MORE ➤➤
Readability Consensus
Based on 7 readability formulas:
Grade Level: 12
Reading Level: difficult to read.
Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old
(Twelfth graders)
