In a perfect world, all adults would have the literacy skills they need to navigate modern life. But fourteen per cent of us, do not live in that world. In Virginia’s New River Valley, it’s eleven percent of people who can not read. But there’s free help out there for people who need it. Robbie Harris reports.
Judy Vest has lived in Montgomery County all her life. She raised a daughter took care of a home, but she never learned to read.
“I had to struggle when I was in school. I went through school and graduated but the teachers didn’t help me much in school,” she remembers.
So, Vest relied on her parents, and later, her husband to help her navigate the world of words.
“When you can’t read, you’re ashamed.” She says. "You’re frustrated. You make excuses.”
But not anymore. thanks to her free tutor from Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley.
“I cannot believe some of the words that I can read in this book” she says with pride. “I could not do that before. I couldn’t.”
Now in hear early 50s, she sits in her comfortable reading chair, a gift to herself to celebrate her success, and opens a book to a short story she’s been working on.
Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley is a nonprofit group that gets no government support. It relies entirely on donations and the tenacity of volunteers who find a couple hours a week to teach someone to read, opening a door on a whole new world.
Last year, the Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley taught 160 people here to read. A hundred of them were learning to read in English as a second language.
Three years ago, Dolma Tsering and her family moved here from a small village in Tibet and opened the Himalayan Café in Blacksburg. “When I came here and didn’t speak English,” she says, “ it’s very hard to communicate to peoples.”
Tsering’s reading tutor, is Emily Smith a freelance editor. She edits a lot of papers written by people whose first language is not English and she says she knows how difficult a language it can be. Her company is called “Editing by Emily."
Dolma Tsering says Emily is “such a great person. She’s helped me a lot.” She would read a sentence first “and I after follow her. Sometimes I don’t understand the big words and she explains for me slowly and she makes sentence that work.” She learned enough that she was able to get her driver’s license. She says, “Here, driver’s license very important.”
Emily Smith says Dolma is a really hard worker and very motivated. “It’s been a really rewarding experience for me. It’s really only 2 hours a week, plus planning. Not that much, but it can make such an impact on person’s life and give them independence to achieve their goals and dreams. So, I definitely recommend it to other people.”
Dolma does everything at the café; taking orders, cooking, cleaning up. She says, some day, she wants to go to school to become a nurse because she wants to help people. Right now, her favorite topic to read is American History.
The Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley also offer help in basic math and computer skills and prep for the high school equivalency test known as the GED. All of it, one on one training, something Executive Director, Linda Jilks says is a big part of why it works so well.
She calls their philosophy “Each one, teach one.”
“Having one person work with you helps you move forward because they are there to give you the attention your individual goals and brain deserve.”
To support those efforts, they’re hosting their annual “Scrabble Night” for players of all levels.
Jilk explains, “There are teams of three people. So, you can buy tickets for a team of three for $100 or you can purchase a ticket as an individual for $35 and you get matched with a team. There’ll be a ‘competitive’ section and a’ just for fun category. “You can buy a ‘cheat sheet for $5 or you can buy a peek at the dictionary for $3, so you don’t have to be an awesome player.”
And it wouldn’t be scrabble without attempts at creative word play, fair game.
Here’s Jilk’s gambit: “The event will be “Letter” with you there! As in “BETTER” but like “LETTER” as in scrabble punning!”
So, scrabble punning, that’s a thing? Maybe so, but it is two words.
The public is invited to Scrabble Night for Adult Literacy, April 4th from 5:30 – 8:30 pm at Great Road on Main in Christiansburg.
Local restaurants and businesses are donating food and prizes and even sponsoring teams.
