From Program Manager Nausha Brown Chavez

Can you believe it? We are already in the middle of the fall semester at The READ Center. We have been diligently learning, training and teaching to ensure a more literate life for READ students.

READ Center Students are making good progress. They are learning phonics, sentence structure, communication, fluency and a host of other reading skills in class. They used these skills to recall, summarize, paraphrase, read and recite information with confidence at READ Between the Wines in September. Other students have used numeracy skills and digital literacy to gain their driver’s license, obtain jobs, and work on books they want to publish one day. Another READ Center student will vote for the first time next week.

But wait, we are not stopping there. The READ Center is a growing community of lifelong learners. New tutors were trained in mid-October to join our current tutors who graciously accept the task of guiding students toward more self-sufficient lives. With their recently acquired wealth of knowledge, new tutors are working in classrooms, in small groups and becoming one-to-one tutors to help READ Center move more lives in a promising direction through literacy.

And, our teachers have been busy too! In addition to winning a Teacher of the Year Award, READ educators have been developing exciting lesson plans, writing proposals for conferences to share READ-developed Adult Literacy resources and programs, sharing their knowledge in tutor training, tutor workshops and of course, helping READ students reach their full potential.

You see we are all in to make The READ Center the best adult literacy nonprofit in RVA – even the office staff. The READ Center staff is participating in the pilot Capital One Nonprofit Accelerator to learn how to improve technology, operations, administration, finance and more from the 10th largest bank in the US. We want to know what’s in their wallet.

As we continue the trend of “reach one, teach one” there is no telling what we can continue to achieve the rest of the semester, the academic year and in the future. Thank you to all who have support READ as volunteers, tutors and donors. Your support is very much needed and appreciated. The best is yet to come as we continue to work together for a more literate Richmond community.

The READ Center is changing lives through adult literacy. For more information on how you can get involved with the READ Center, consider volunteering as a tutor or donating. If you or someone you know would like more information about joining our classes, learn how to become a student or call 804-288-9930.