BELFAST — Literacy Volunteers of Waldo County is pleased to announce that it will offer bimonthly training in 2016 for those interested in literacy, reading and how to foster those interests in others. Workshops encompass information about becoming a literacy volunteer tutor as well as tips, ideas and research for volunteers who are actively tutoring or for community members who simply want to learn more about literacy. Each will feature a variety of experts in reading, literacy skill development and education.

The first training of 2016 will be held on Saturday, Feb. 27, from 8:30 a.m. — Noon at Belfast Adult Education Learning Center. This session is designed to inspire and inform anyone interested in literacy, including new and prospective tutors, as well as all educators and community members. It will offer an orientation to the basics of tutoring presented by Denise Pendleton, Coordinator of LV-WC and a panel of active tutors. The second portion of the workshop, beginning at 10:30 a.m. provides an interactive mini-training on reading disabilities and the role of phonological processing skills in the development of reading skills, presented by reading specialist, Dr. Robin Lovrien. Morning refreshments will be offered.

According to ProLiteracy, the national nonprofit sponsoring organization of Literacy Volunteers, more than 30 million adults in the United States cannot read, write, or do basic math above a third-grade level and more than 10 million Americans have reached the 12th grade without having learned to read at a basic level. In Waldo County, according to the Waldo CAP Needs Assessment Report 2015, roughly eight percent — or 2,437 — Waldo County residents are lacking the basic functional literacy skills necessary to complete a driver's license test or job application. Pendleton said in a news release, "In the past year, Literacy Volunteers has maintained over a dozen matches at any one time. Our goal is to increase those tutor-student learning partnerships, because there are clearly many more in need of our services than we can reach. Our volunteers help as tutors and in outreach to promote awareness and access to the literacy learning opportunities we provide."

Robin Lovrien M. Sp. Ed: LD Ph.D. (Candidate) was a reading specialist for nearly 20 years and received her early training as a remedial reading tutor at the Kingsbury Center, (a Washington D.C.-based institution and school dedicated to serving children and adults with learning differences). Lovrien worked with struggling readers of all ages at the Lab School of Washington for many years, and then applied her knowledge to examining the issues of reading and reading difficulties in ESOL. She has been a consultant, trainer, and writer in the field of learning difficulties and disabilities in adult ESOL learners for more than 20 years. Lovrien particularly loves to continue learning about the recent research in neuroscience and in reading difficulties across languages as it informs how our learners read and why the process is not always as smooth as we expect.

Denise has a Master's in Creative Writing and is the recipient of the Correll Fellowship in Literacy Education at University of Maine in Orono. She was founder and director of the Maine Humanities Council Born to Read program and delivered many workshops to early childhood educators on best practices for reading aloud to children. She now serves as Coordinator of Literacy Volunteers of Waldo County and WorkReady training program also offered through Belfast Adult Education.

Literacy Volunteers provides free, confidential services to adults (ages 18 and older) who would like to improve their reading, writing, math, and/or computer skills. Trained volunteers work one-to-one with adults (often in the library and at Belfast Adult Ed) and one-hour learning sessions are scheduled around work and other obligations. Assistance is available for native speakers as well as new English learners.

The mission of Literacy Volunteers of Waldo County is to empower adult learners by increasing their literacy skills, improving opportunity through reading, and enhancing a culture of literacy within our community. To register for a class, to obtain a 2016 training schedule, or FMI about becoming a student or tutor with Literacy Volunteers, please contact the coordinator at 207-338-3197