Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (March 18, 1988)
Lana Burr teaches Ray Bidler, Sr. the fundamentals of grammar. Burr is with the Adult Academic Studies program of Southeast Community College. excited, I get excited.” Frenchy says she’s volunteered all her life — cooking for invalid neighbors, writing letters for people, taking migrant workers’ children to church. “It’s automatic,” she says. “I hope I can help people as long as I’m able.” The Lincoln Literacy Center depends on volunteers. Poppe says the requirements to be a tutor in clude a good reading ability and the desire to want to help someone else learn. She says all volunteers must take a basic literacy work shop that is comprised of four three-hour workshops. Poppe says the 100 volunteers are people from the community i such as lawyers, teachers, factory workers, librarians, college pro fessors. The volunteers are re quired to give 11/2 hours a week to the center. Poppe says many of the stu dents being tutored have had some schooling, “but | for various reasons they haven’t had reading ability.” The students work from four basic skill book levels and five challenger skill books. The books arc the only cost of the program. During the sessions, students fo cus on reasoning skills and skills needed for reading and writing, depending on the level they’ve reached. u Hatching him grow and develop his abilities to gain confidence in himself • •. it’s just wonder ful. —Burr 99 IPoppc says students in the be ginning levels concentrate on phonics, skills to help them learn how to recognize new words on their own, spelling, syllables, shon vowel sounds and compre hension. In the upper levels, they concentrate on word contractions,*' suffixes, prefixes and the differ ence between fact and opinion, she says. Although the center tutors jun ior and senior high students, it primarily concentrates on adults. Poppe says it takes a few years for students to become literate, noting that people leam at their own pace. Besides the Lincoln Literacy Center, Bidler attends Southeast Community College’s Adult Aca demic Studies classes Monday through Wednesday in the Old Federal Building on Ninth and P streets. u People have to swal low their pride for people like me who are illiterate. They have to take the first step. —Bidler He says the work is on a per sonal level and pace. There is no grading, he says; the tutor corrects his errors and explains them to him. “Southeast Community Col lege goes more into depth,” he says. “I don’t think I’d be up as high as I would il l only went once a week.” Lana Burr, instructor and vol unteer coordinator of the Adult Academic Studies program, says the program is more an independ ent study rather than a tutoring session. Burr said the difference is “we’re teaching in a classroom and they’re (the Lincoln Literacy Cen ter) one on one.” Burr has been tutoring for 15 years and says she has gained a lot from working with Bidler. “Watching him grow and de velop his abilities to gain confi dence in himself... it’s just won derful,” she says. “It’s truly amazing what people can do on their own once they realize they have these abilities, and • once you build- 'seifiesteemf;1' they can do all sorts of things. “His attitude is different. Your attitude has so much to do with how you perform. He’s willing to go through things with me.” Burr says all of the tutors are volunteers. All volunteers are re quired to attend a one-hour orien tation session. Burr adds that sev eral UNL students are volunteers. “I think more people should get involved in helping out,” Bidler says. “Students from UNL volun teer at Southeast Community Col lege. People have to swallow their pride for people like me who are illiterate. They have to take the first step.” Sederburg says there are 17 branch programs in Lincoln. He says prospective students are diag nosed and evaluated before they start the program. He says about 200 students a year from Southeast Community College continue their education after completing the reading program. Burr adds that the classes are open to anyone 16 or older who is not enrolled in a public school. She says that the program is paid for through federal funding. beacrourg was cnairman oi tne three-year-old Literacy Task Force in Lincoln for its first two years. He says the task force at tempts to do as much it can to raise awareness for the need of im proved literacy, to recruit as many volunteers as possible and to re cruit students. The main focus for 1988, Seder burg says, is to work with busi nesses and industries to identify those who need literacy skills and have classes at their place of em ployment. Bidlcr is serving a 39-month to six-year term for burglary. Al though he works as a baker at Community Correction Centers Lincoln, he says he still has the time to study his reading one to three hours a day. “I wish the Department of Cor rections would try to get more inmates to get help with their prob lem,” he says. ‘‘Seventy-five per cent don’t know how to read or write. They should give them some kind of incentive.” ‘‘I appreciate what they’re (Department of Corrections) trying to do for me,” he says. ,L''*' * Gene Hruza, educational coor dinator for Community Correction Centers-Lincoln, says 5 to 10 per cent of the facility’s population is functioning under a sixth-grade level of literacy. Hruza says for the past two years the community cen ter has been working with the Lincoln Literacy Center and Southeast Community College. He says a third of the center’s population — about 100 a year — attends instruction. Currently the inmates involved in education programs are on edu cation release and are able to travel outside of the facility. u They’ve elected in some cases to turn to crime instead of looking toward other avenues of battling their illiteracy. —Hruza 99 Hruza says the inmates’ crimes may be tied to their illiteracy. “They’ve elected in some cases to turn to crime instead of looking toward other avenues of battling their illiteracy,’’ he says. Goals. Stepping stones to ac complishment. Bidlcr already has accomplished his first goal: to read well enough to be enrolled in col lege. Bidler will go to college in September. He says everything’s been approved at Southeast Com munity College, and he plans to majorin youth development. After two years at Southeast, he says, he would like to continue his educa tion at the University of Nebraska- . Lincoln or Nebraska Wesleyan University. Poppe says many people who go through the literacy classes plan to continue their education to get their General Equivalency Devel opment (G.E.D.) or college de gree. “It’s kind of a first step for their long'-tertti goals,” she says: Poppe also says many illit erate people have high IQs. She attributes it to getting so far through memoriz ing. She says intelligence is not a blanket; many people have not had the opportunity to become literate, forcing them to take low-paying jobs or have someone help them with the reading and writing. Bidler says his real goal, how ever, is “to be as good as I can be and get to the point where I can enjoy reading. I used to hate read ing. I want to sit down and enjoy a book so I don’t hate it. “I want to try and help other people, if they’re in my situation, to get help,” Bidler says. —Joeth Zucco
