CHARLES COUNTY LITERACY COUNCIL

Charles County Literacy Council News

BECOME A VOLUNTEER TUTOR — Learn More at Our Events Page

Council Meetings

The next monthly meeting of the Charles County Literacy Council will be held on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 7:00 p.m. in the meeting room of the United Way Building, 10250 La Plata Road, La Plata, MD 20646.  All active and inactive tutors are encouraged to participate.  We begin every meeting with a tutor-student discussion.  This is a great opportunity to talk face-to-face with other tutors about milestones, progress or issues you want to bring to the table. 

Newsletters

• Fall 2011 Newsletter
• Spring 2011 Newsletter
• Fall 2010 Newsletter
• Spring 2010 Newsletter
• Fall 2009 Newsletter
• Spring 2009 Newsletter
• Fall 2008 Newsletter
• Spring 2008 Newsletter

July 2011

Our one day retreat on Saturday, July 30 was fabulous and well attended. We shared a lot of ideas for the coming year. The Charles County Literacy Council also received a grant of New Reader’s Press books through the National Book Fund and ProLiteracy. We are extremely grateful for this award which will help replenish our supply of books for current and incoming tutors and students.

May 2011

Our newly trained tutors from our spring 2011 workshop have been matched with waiting adult students in the areas of reading, math and English for Speakers of Other Languages, including some who are assisting in classrooms at the Lifelong Learning Center.  Congratulations to all of our new tutors!

April 2011

We have just completed our spring 2011 Volunteer Tutor Training Workshop which took place on March 29-31, 2011 at the Lifelong Learning Center in Waldorf, MD. Congratulations to our 14 new tutors! Tutors will soon be matched one-on-one with adult students who need help with reading, basic math and English for speakers of other languages. For information on our Fall tutor training workshop, visit our Events page in early summer.

Charles County Literacy Council is now on Facebook

Many thanks to Danielle Troiano who set up Facebook for us. David Paul, Information Services Manager at Southern Maryland Regional Library Association, who hosts our website was also of immediate and creative assistance. Sonja Scharles, our President will be handling the site maintenance. This will be another way to notify the public of upcoming events, post testimonials and photos from social occasions and keep tutors informed. “Like” us on Facebook and “share” us with all your friends.

December 2010 – Border’s Gift-Wrapping Fundraiser

Our fundraiser at Border’s bookstore in Waldorf on Dec 11, 21 and 22, 2010 was hugely successful.  We had more than 20 volunteers come out to help us wrap books and other items for Border’s customers.  We received almost $800 in donations and 30 people signed up to receive newsletters and learn more about the Literacy Council.  Thank you to Jack Faherty for organizing this event and to all the volunteers who gave their time and energy to this event. 

November 2010

We just completed our Fall 2010 Volunteer tutor training workshop.  Ten new tutors have been trained to teach adult students in the Charles County area improve their math, reading, and ESL skills.  All tutors are in the process of being matched with waiting adult students.  Congratulations new tutors!  The next tutor training workshop will be held in spring 2011.  Dates will be set soon.  To learn more, visit our Events Page.

October 2010

The Charles County Literacy Council participated in the United Way of Charles County’s Day of Caring Homeless Resource Day at Health Partners in Waldorf, MD on October 6, 2010.  Information booths and public services were set up inside and outside the building.  Some of the organizations involved were United Way of Charles County, LifeStyles of Southern MD, the Health Department, Catherine Foundation, Health Partners, Catholic Charities—Angels Watch Shelter, Charles County Public Libraries, Children’s Aid, the Sheriff’s Department and Community Services.  The Literacy Council was able to talk to many of our County’s homeless individuals to offer them free reading and math tutoring. Once these individuals are assessed to determine their level of math or reading, they will be matched with a tutor one-on-one to meet in public places weekly for tutoring sessions.  All students must be committed and responsible for showing up on time and calling ahead if they will not be able to make their tutoring appointments.

May 2010

The Charles County Literacy Council just completed its spring Volunteer tutor training workshop on April 20-22, 2010 co-chaired by President Sonja L. Scharles and Board Member Edna Troiano. We trained 11 new tutors who are in the process of being matched by Program Coordinator Marlene Cleaveland. Congratulations to all new tutors. Of the 11 people trained, one is a former 74 year old CCLC student who was tutored in 2008 and 2009. She is now trained to tutor students who need help improving their reading and math skills. Here are some of the comments we received from the tutor evaluations:

• “This has been a pleasure. The nine hours went by very quickly. Everything was well done.”
• “This workshop has been great. I enjoyed it and found it quite enlightening. I love the energies of everyone involved.”
• “The experience was wonderful.”
• “This is a great workshop. All the presenters were informed and insightful.”
• “Very Professional. Great training. I feel very prepared.”
• “I thought this workshop was very well organized, logical. The teams of instructors seem very cohesive, committed and highly motivated. They passed that on to me. I’m very excited to be a part of this program. I’m impressed that Charles County offers such a great service.”

To learn more about upcoming tutor training workshops, visit our Events page or email the office at charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net. All persons interested in becoming tutors must be 18 or older.

April 2010

• Literacy Council receives $3,000 grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation
  The CCLC was presented a $3,000 check at the Bryans Road Dollar General (Store #2696) on March 24, 2010. The check was presented by Jackson Routh, Corporate Initiatives Administrator in Goodlettsville, TN. The Bryan’s Road Dollar General is managed by Mr. Bill Black, and has been voted number one in the United States for the past 6 years for the most monies collected for literacy. This year, the store collected more than $27,000 in dollars and coins in literacy donations. The literacy donation box is prominently displayed at the check-out counters in all Dollar General stores. Since 1993, The Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $40 million in grants to non-profit organizations helping more than 2.1 million individuals take their first steps toward literacy, obtaining their GED or improving their English proficiency. CCLC is honored to have been selected again this year to receive a grant, along with local schools. Please visit Mr. Black’s store and let him know how much we appreciate him and his employees.
  
  
  
  

Pictured in the photo from left to right are store employees, CCLC President Sonja Scharles (holding check, Jack Faherty, Vice President, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Bill Black, Store Manager).

February/March 2010

• In February, we mailed out a letter by our President Sonja Scharles inviting individuals to send in monetary donations to help us recover costs associated with materials we purchase to train tutors and teach our students. These materials are expensive and must be replenished every few months. We now have almost 100 active volunteers tutoring and/or volunteering in some other capacity (board member, etc.) Donations can continue to be made to “The Charles County Literacy Council” and mailed to CCLC, 10250 La Plata Road, La Plata, MD. We appreciate all donations, no matter how small. You can become a Literacy Champion for $500.00 or more, Literacy Partner for $250.00-499.00, Literacy Supporter for $100.00-$249.00, $67.27 will sponsor materials for 1 tutor and one student for 6 months; and an Associate Member for one year for $25.00. For more information contact the CCLC at charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net.

We had a very successful early bird tutor session prior to the beginning of our March meeting. Several tutors came and participated in a round table discussion to talk about any tutoring problems they were having or to learn of ideas that work with other tutors. We plan to hold additional tutor exchange sessions every few months.

In December, we raised almost $400 in donations from the Borders gift-wrapping we held. We also met several people who indicated an interest in becoming a volunteer tutor and one person who is seeking help in reading. The Literacy Council also has partnered with the Armed Forces Recruiting Office in Waldorf. The military recruiters have busily been referring young men and women to our office for tutoring to help them primarily improve their math skills so they can pass the ASVAB (the military entrance exam.)

December 2009

• Our annual Borders gift-wrapping fundraiser is taking place Tuesday, December 8 (from 3:00 p.m.-8:00 p.m.) and Wednesday, December 16 (from 10:00 a.m.-8:00 p.m.) at the Borders Bookstore in Waldorf, MD. CCLC volunteers will wrap customers’ gifts/books for free during these periods (donations will be accepted.) These funds help cover costs for new tutor and student books. We have spent almost $3,000 on tutoring and student materials this year. Drop by to say hello or get your book shopping/gift-wrapping taken care of.

November 2009

• The Charles County Literacy Council has just completed the Fall 2009 Volunteer Tutor Training workshop (October 27-29) chaired by Sonja Scharles, CCLC President. We graduated 19 tutors ranging in age from 24 to 75. All are excited and ready to tutor. Tutor-student matching is in progress. A million thanks to Sonja and all the presenters for a magnificent workshop. The presenters included Sonja Scharles, Art Payton, Jack Faherty, Michael Ellis Jeanette Madison, Deryl Danner, Sr., Mary Jones, Meg Overbey, Elizabeth Sinnes and Mary Vargo. Thanks also to Renard Johnson, Shirlene Savoy and Christy Washington who worked at the greeter table. We received an array of positive comments from the newly trained tutors on their evaluation forms and welcome them. Special appreciation and thanks to Darlene Adams, Board Treasurer for planning and overseeing dinner for the workshop. We also received $171.00 in donations during the workshop from new tutors. These funds will help offset costs associated with materials for future workshops. Thank you new tutors!

October 2009

• If you would like to become a volunteer tutor with the Charles County Literacy Council, please go to our Events Page to register for the next tutor workshop. Space is limited.

September 2009 - The Charles County Literacy Council has moved.

• Charles County Literacy has moved its headquarters to 10250 La Plata Road (Route 488), La Plata, MD 20646. Our office is inside the United Way Building. The new phone number is 301-934-6488. There will still be a Waldorf location for pick-up/drop-off of books for tutors who work in DC or live in Waldorf as well as assessment and tutoring locations in Waldorf. For more information, you may contact the office by phone or email, charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net
• We held our first meeting of the season on Tuesday, September 1 at our new office location in the meeting room. Several tutors also attended and provided great input. Plan to join us on the first Tuesday of every month at 7:00 p.m.-8:30 p.m. at 10250 La Plata Road, Waldorf, MD 20646 (meeting room). The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 6, 2009.

May 2009

• The Charles County Literacy Council participated in this year’s Charles County Government Day “Go Green” at the Government Building in La Plata, MD on Saturday, May 9. Sonja Scharles, President, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Deryl Danner, Sr. and Mary Jones, both newly trained tutors, helped occupy our CCLC display table. The event was hugely successful with many vendors and local charities and organizations present, including the United Way, with which we are a partner agency. We talked to many visitors who were interested in either being tutored or becoming a tutor themselves. We also made contact with several organizations we plan to include in our outreach initiative efforts.
  
• The Dollar General Literacy Foundation awarded a $3,000 grant to the Literacy Council on April 28, 2009 at the Dollar General store (store # 2696) in Bryan’s Road, MD. The check was presented by Jackson Routh, Corporate Community Initiatives Administrator. The Bryan’s Road Dollar General in Indian Head, MD is managed by Mr. Bill Black, and has been voted number one in the Nation for the past five years for the most monies collected for literacy. This year, the store collected $28,956.88 in literacy donations. Since 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded $27.6 million dollars in grants. CCLC is honored to have been selected this year to receive a grant, along with local schools.

Pictured in photo holding check (left to right)Delegate Peter Murphy, Center, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Bill Black, Store Manager, Renate Carr. Sonja Scharles, CCLC President is shown 2nd row, far right.

April 2009

• Congratulations to our newly trained volunteer tutors! We just completed our three-evening tutor workshop on March 26, 2009 training 25 new tutors! Many thanks to our amazing Workshop Chair, Nicole Bennett and all the presenters for doing a fabulous job. We have already begun the process of matching the new tutors with waiting students. The workshop was one of our best; we even had a waiting list and a few that will have to wait until the October training. Please check our events page for upcoming information on our Fall workshop.
• We also had a fantastic time at the first tutor-student appreciation potluck held at Good Samaritan Presbyterian Church on March 28, 2009. We presented our tutors and one attending student with appreciation certificates and other gifts to thank them for their generous tutoring and other volunteer hours. Charles County Commissioner Samuel Graves, Jr. also attended and presented each tutor with a Charles County lapel pin; LifeStyles of MD Program Director, Dana Harty also attended with several guests. Many thanks also to our Board of Directors for helping us put all of this together, including providing many delicious dishes as well as the tutors who brought dishes; special thanks to Sally Brandt for offering her church as a location for this event. We appreciate all of you!

March 2009

• We are having a Tutor-Student Appreciation Potluck on Saturday, March 28, 2009 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. at the Good Samaritan Presbyterian Church in Waldorf, MD. All CCLC tutors are invited to attend and bring their students. We have mailed out invitations and hope that you can join us. RSVPs should be in no later than Friday, March 20, so we can plan accordingly. We look forward to seeing you there. Please call the office at 301-870-5974 if you have not received an invitation.

January 2008

• Would you like to teach adults in Charles County to read, write, do basic math, learn English as a Second Language or provide help teaching English to speakers of other languages? We are changing lives for the better. Help continue to make Charles County all it can be. We just concluded our Spring volunteer tutor workshop. We will conduct another tutor training workshop in October 2009 (dates have not been finalized, yet.) Once dates are set, you may register online or email at charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net; For further information, contact Marlene Cleaveland at the CCLC office at 301-870-5974.

December 2008

• We concluded our Border's gift-wrapping fund-raising event on December 19. We collected almost $500 in donations. The event was organized again by our wonderful Vice President, Jack Faherty.  Special thanks to Sonja Scharles, Darlene Adams, Edna Troiano, Michael Ellis, Nicole (Coley) Bennett, Susan Brewer, Dee Crowell, Marcel Jewel and Jacinta McDonald. Everyone had a wonderful time and proudly wore our new blue CCLC t-shirts. Thanks also to everyone who stopped by to say hello or have a gift wrapped. 

November 2008 - CFC Charity Kickoff Event at U.S. Census Bureau, Suitland, MD

John (Jack) Faherty, Vice President of the Literacy Council and Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator participated in the recent Combined Federal Campaign (CFC) Charity Event at the Census Bureau. This was a wonderful opportunity for broad public exposure to our organization and how we greatly benefit the community. We were able to talk to many people during Census' busy lunch time about the Literacy Council and hand out CCLC pens, brochures and other literature to raise awareness of donations to the CFC Campaign this year. (If you wish to make a donation to the CFC campaign, the Literacy Council's CFC # is 77322). Many thanks to our President Sonja Scharles and Jeanette Madison, our publicity chair, for developing the display board we used here and will use at future events, as well as Darlene Adams, Treasurer for ordering our new pens, bookmarks and carry bags. Thank you again to all our Board and volunteer tutors for everything you do to make this organization strong and to enable us to continue our mission to help needy citizens in Charles County learn to read and to perform basic math skills.

For Next Volunteer Tutor Training Workshop, go to the Council's Events page.

November 2008

• Thank you to all of you who contributed during our Fall Fundraising Letter mail-out.  We appreciate all of you and could not continue without support from the local community.  Our annual Border's gift-wrapping fundraiser will be held on Thursday, December 11, 2008 from 4:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m., Monday, December 15,  from 4:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. and Friday, December 19 from 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. at Border's in Waldorf, MD.  We will have a table set up at the entrance in Borders with our Literacy Council banner attached.  Borders will supply all wrapping materials.  We will wrap gifts for customers for donations and will include a CCLC bookmark in all books we wrap.  All active and inactive tutors and volunteers are welcome to join us.  Email Marlene Cleaveland at charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net if you are interested in helping.  This is a fun event!

October 2008

• Congratulations to our October 2008 Volunteer Tutor Training Graduates! To read the article click here. We just completed our Fall Volunteer Tutor workshop chaired by Nicole Bennett. It was very successful and everyone had a good time. We have 13 new tutors and are busily matching them with students. We always need new tutors. Visit our Events page to learn of upcoming tutor training.

August 2008

• We had a very successful Summer Retreat on August 9, 2008. Thanks to our wonderful Board Secretary and Chair Student Assessor Edna Troiano and her husband Pete for hosting this event!

July 2008

• The Charles County Literacy Council, as well as several local organizations and schools were awarded grants by the Dollar General Literacy Foundation on July 15, 2008. The checks were presented at the Bryans Road Dollar General by Jackson Routh, the Corporate Community Initiatives Administrator out of Tennessee on behalf of the Bryans Road Dollar General, managed by Mr. Bill Black.

  It was so exciting to be a part of this! Sonja Scharles, our President, was there to accept the check and Jack Faherty, our VP and Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, were there as well.

  To provide a bit of history on Dollar General, the store was founded by a young man (J.L. Turner) who lost his father at a very early age and had to drop out of school to help work at home with the family. He could not read or write but went on to develop these stores. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan honored Dollar General for its literacy program and in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation was established. Dollar General strongly supports literacy. In fact, the Bryans Road Dollar General is the #1 store out of 8200 stores nationwide to collect the largest amount of money (collected through coin cans at their stores) which is then distributed to organizations promoting literacy for children and adults. Last year, his store (#2696) collected $31,211,86. As Mr. Routh pointed out today, every penny that is collected counts and that is why they did not round off the total figure.

  We are very honored to have been selected this year to receive a grant in the amount of $5,000.

  We encourage you to shop at the Bryan's Road Dollar General (located in the same shopping center as Safeway) off Route 210 in Indian Head Maryland. And while you're there, take the time to thank Mr. Bill Black for all he and his store employees do to help promote literacy.

Pictured in the photo- holding the check (Left, Marlene Cleaveland, Program Coordinator, Center, John Faherty, Vice President and Sonja Scharles, President. Store employees from left to right: Joan Griffith, Renate Carr, Brenda Tippett, Bill Black, Store Manager, Irvin Nore and Holly Dyson.)

April 2008

• Congratulations to our new volunteer tutors! We had a very successful tutor workshop April 15-17, 2008 and 11 tutors completed the required 9 hours training. The new tutors are now in the process of being matched with individual students. Thank you to Nicole Bennett, the Workshop Chair who organized the entire event and to all our speakers and Darlene Adams for overseeing food preparation. Our next workshop will take place in October. Please visit the website for further details in the Fall or email the Council at charlescountyliteracy@comcast.net

March 2008

• CCLC participated in the March 1st Charles County Women's Fair at the College of Southern Maryland, by staffing an exhibit table at the Fair.
• Board members Jack Faherty and Jeanette Madison were CCLC's hosts, and were assisted by Darlene Adams.
Darlene was a member of this year's steering committee and is a founding member of the Women's Fair.
• We are preparing for the Spring Tutor Workshop scheduled for Tuesday, April 15 through Thursday, April 17, 2008, 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at the Lifelong Learning Center. The class is almost full. See the Events page to learn more information, or to register.

February 2008

• Are you interested in becoming a volunteer tutor with the Charles County Literacy Council? Trained tutors tutor students on a one-on-one basis in reading, writing, basic math and English as a Second Language. The need is great. For further information, click on our Events page.

December 2007

• John (Jack) Faherty, Executive Board Vice President, organized this year's annual fundraising gift-wrapping event held at the Border's Book Store in Waldorf, MD. Many thanks to all volunteers who participated in helping us wrap gifts at the store for donations. Everyone had a wonderful time. The last date for gift-wrapping will be held Tuesday, December 18, 2007 from 4:00-9:30 p.m.
• Click here to read a press release posted on Southern Maryland Online

November 2007

• CCLC welcomes Marlene Cleaveland as the new Program Coordinator. Ms. Cleaveland replaces former Executive Director Shirley Williams. For further information about Ms. Cleaveland, you can view the Board Minutes of November 6, 2007.
• The next Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, December 4, 2007 at the Lifelong Learning Center, 12300 Vivian Adams Drive, Waldorf, MD 20601. All volunteers and tutors are encouraged to attend. It is important to report your hours prior to the end of the year. You can do so at the tutors/volunteers section; click on "provide us with updates and hours". Thank you and we appreciate you!

October 2007

• We graduated 14 tutors from our October 2007 tutor training workshop. Congratulations to all of you who participated! Tutors are now being matched with students. To learn about future tutor training, visit our events page.

This page last updated January 5, 2012 (mc).