2015-16

Volunteers' Stories 2015-16

Everyone has a story, unusual, exciting, different. Many of them are just waiting to be read by others. From the front lines in Bosnia to the front office in Manhattan, Literacy Volunteers of America tutors come to us with fascinating backgrounds. We are proud to share the highlights of these amazing individuals who bring their varied experiences to our students.

Enjoy reading about people like the former missionary who provided medical supplies to remote villages, retired business people, lawyers, healthcare providers, college students, building for the future, who generously share their wealth of newly acquired knowledge, and even mothers whose role as primary as caregiver for their children willingly juggle home life, work as well as tutoring.

Giovanni Romeo

While most tutors come to Literacy Volunteers of America when their professional careers are winding down, Giovanni Romeo is just beginning his. And, what a beginning it is.

After a little over a year with LVA, Giovanni is setting off for an adventure with Teach for America whose mission is to “enlist, develop, and mobilize as many as possible of our nation’s most promising future leaders to grow and strengthen the movement for educational equity and excellence.”

His first two-year post will be on the south side of Chicago to teach ninth grade history. When asked how hse feels about his new position, Giovanni said, “I always wanted to have some kind of a positive impact and help people out. LVA has given me a good opportunity.”

Giovanni is a recent graduate from William Paterson University where he majored in history and African studies. While attending a professional development conference in Washington, D.C., Giovanni had some down time he used to become immersed in the popular book, “The New Jim Crow.” “In the book, the author wrote about literacy in New Jersey. Data proved that one out of four adults can not read. These were jarring statistics. When I returned home, I saw a New York Times article referencing Literacy Volunteers of America. I called the Bloomfield office and a month later, I was in a tutor training course.”

Although he felt the training was “wonderful,” Giovanni said sitting down face to face with a student was all together different. “I really did not feel that I knew what I was doing until I started tutoring. I am shy to admit that I thought my first meeting was a disaster,” he said. Contrary to his early self-evaluation, Giovanni tutored three students, all of whom progressed rapidly and improved their employment opportunities.

Giovanni used the Spectrum reading and writing series with his basic literacy students. He said, “The series offers everything you need to be successful in teaching literacy. I also added my own spin to it.”

June 1, he will load up his car and head west to teach a new group of eager students. With the confidence he gained through LVA, Giovanni is excited to begin his this new chapter.

Abby Kane

Upon her retirement, Abby Kane transitioned nicely from her professional life as a psychologist in private practice and Director of Psychological Counseling at Bloomfield College to Literacy Volunteers of America tutor. Within a few short months, she signed up for training and embarked upon her new journey. “I did not want to be a complete and total bum,” she said in her usual good natured manner.”

Abby hit the ground running and was quickly matched with an ESL student from Albania. “Engjell was so much fun,” Abby said. “He had a very outgoing personality and we found out ways to communicate despite the obvious language barrier.” He introduced Abby to Interchange English for International Communication that incorporated conversation and grammar. Both found this interactive method to be a very useful tool and Abby still uses this today.

Abby’s second student, Bhavana, was from India and together they shared the joy of cooking Indian food. “I love to cook and I love Indian food. It was the perfect marriage,” Abby said.

Abby learned from her students to follow their lead. “With all of my students, we work on what they have on their plate. Along with my lesson plan, we approach the task at hand on any given day.” Abby recently helped her ESL student, Amarilis, earn her certificate to become a licensed real estate broker. Amarilis brought in the textbook she needed to study for the test and together she and Abby went over the vocabulary and correct pronunciation for the material. They vigorously prepared for 6 weeks and achieved excellent results. Abby said, “Passing the real estate test really helped to build up Amarilis’s self confidence.”

Abby is equally pleased with her other current ESL student, Silvy. Together, they are working on Silvy’s resume and are hoping employment is soon in the offing.

Abby has been an LVA volunteer tutor for more than 4 years and has no plans in the near future to stop. She has tried other places to volunteer but keeps her connection to LVA strong. Abby said, “At LVA we feel valued and get lots of tutor support.”

Sister Patricia O’Donnell

Call it karma. Call it good luck. Call it a blessing-however you choose to refer to Sister Patricia O’Donnell’s joining Literacy Volunteers of America as a tutor, we are enthusiastically grateful for her active participation in our program. Her colleague, Sister Catherine Reilly, said of Sister Patricia, “She is a prayerful good sister and a fun person to be with. You are always comfortable in her company.”

A member of the Dominican order since 1957, Sister Patricia is a quiet, gentle woman. She meets with her ESL student every week at the Bloomfield Library. Together they are on a journey through the English language, combining literacy and civics. Sister Patricia is not new to teaching. She brings with her skills acquired in a long spanning career of teaching English in grammar, middle, and high school.

The transition to adult learning has been flawless. Mindful that adult learning is a collaborative activity, Sr. Patricia gives credit to her student for helping make the classes work. “My student is very eager to learn,” Sister Patricia said. “She is progressing nicely.”

Once she picked up a master’s degree in pastoral ministry, she worked with adults and led scripture study classes, prepared parents for the Baptism of their infants as well as helped anyone who was seeking to join the Catholic Church through the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) program.

After her retirement in 2013 she continued working by helping at a health care center and tutoring the students at the Academy of St. Dominic in Caldwell. Her dedication to helping was never in question. The Sisters of St. Dominic have a special commitment to education at all levels, especially to those who are in need.

It is not surprising; therefore, that Sister Patricia found her path to LVA through another religious from Monmouth County who was also a former teacher and now a current LVA tutor. With great interest, Sister Patricia went on line and found the number for the LVA Essex & Passaic Counties’ office. She called, left a message, and within a month began training.

When interviewed, her comment was, “I can honestly say that whatever job I had I enjoyed it because I do love teaching.”

Fred Liss

Fred Liss came to Literacy Volunteers of America with tons of international experience, starting from his days as a college student in England to those spent inspecting refugee camps during the breakup of Yugoslavia.

“The conditions were appalling,” Fred remembers of the camps, which he evaluated for non-governmental organizations in the 1990s.

He continued his work in Eastern bloc countries as an editor and writer for Life Magazine in Ljubljana, Slovenia. There, he interviewed President Clinton, as well as the U.S. ambassador to Slovenia, and others in political power.

Catching up with Fred is no easy task but we managed to chat with the LVA tutor between his sessions at the Bloomfield Public Library. On any given day or evening, you can find him at a table there, engaged with one of his four students. “Reading and writing are crucial to success,” Fred said of his work as a volunteer. “I feel very strongly about that.”

He likely always has. Even as a young man, Fred tutored at-risk kids from Newark. “I came from a family that taught me the values of community and giving back,” he said.

Fred has traveling in his blood, and to LVA’s good fortune, he settled in the Essex County area, where he first joined LVA in 2006.

As a young man, Fred studied English and sociology in the U.S. and later attended school in England.

He spent nine years as an ESL teacher, working in Slovenia at Berlitz and Waldorf schools. “I was fascinated by the culture. I felt a connection with the people. Working with the Muslim community in Slovenia was incredibly eye opening,” Fred said.

After his return to the United States, Fred connected with LVA. “I feel giving back to the community that one lives in is very important,” he said. His students are from diverse backgrounds, but the one commonality they share is their fondness for their tutor. “It is gratifying to share their experiences with them,” Fred said. “I go home happy.”

Mary O'Connor

Mary O’Connor wears a variety of hats at Literacy Volunteers, the most recent being on staff part time as Tutor Support Specialist. Mary began her relationship with LVA many years ago when the office was at Caldwell College as a tutor and an office volunteer. The staff appreciated that they could faithfully depend on her to accomplish the arduous task of calling tutors to report their monthly hours. When asked how she went from tutoring two students and an office volunteer to being a tutor trainer, workshop presenter, Tutor Support Specialist, and currently tutoring 6 students, Mary said with her usual good nature, “I opened my big mouth.”

Mary is a big proponent of teaching small groups of students. Currently she has a group of four students, all with varied backgrounds and abilities. She stated her educational philosophy, which is, “If you can teach one student, it is just as easy and in some ways easier to teach small groups. You can utilize the interactions among students to move the lesson along.” And along they move with gesturing and laughter, which one could easily mistake for a party game of charades. One aspect that cannot be mistaken is that learning is always taking place. Under that warm smile, a serious taskmaster resides. Mary taught in an all girls’ high school for 34 years and also worked as an administrator for six years.

Upon her “official” retirement, Mary wanted to have the opportunity to work with adults and through Volunteer Match, she found LVA. “And,” she said, “the rest is history.” Her desire to work with adults stemmed from her immigrant Italian father and his experience learning English as a second language. Mary said, “I like teaching people from other countries or Americans who got short changed.” Along with her group, she also tutors individuals whose native tongue is English but for various reasons can neither read nor write. In 2014 Mary was awarded “Teacher of the Year” by the New Jersey Association for Lifelong Learning, the largest adult education association in the state.

As Tutor Support Specialist, Mary is always on call to help tutors with any situations they may encounter. She counsels tutors over the phone, at the Bloomfield library, and makes her tutoring sessions readily available for interested observers. Mary emphasizes that one does not need a background in education to become a successful tutor. “You need a background in dedication,” she said. When asked why she will continue to tutor into the forseeable future, Mary said, “Tutoring is an affirmation that I am still involved in education. It is a big part of who I am.”

Debbie Bloomer

Learning to speak, read, or write a new language requires determination, patience and understanding, both from adult learners and instructors. Perhaps no one knows this better than Debbie Bloomer.

Legally blind since birth, Debbie has learned to communicate effectively in English, Spanish, and Braille. She joined Literacy Volunteers of America four years ago and brought with her decades of experience in helping students overcome obstacles to learning.

She earned a master’s degree in vocational rehabilitation counseling and spent her career teaching Braille and other adaptive skills to students from preschool through 12th grade, as well as vocational skills to adults. “My interest in helping people developed when I was working summer jobs,” she said. “I supervised a group of sight impaired children.”

Debbie has retired but never really stopped teaching. In her first volunteer assignment following retirement, she taught an ESL class at the Bloomfield Public Library.

“I found that the people were accepting,” Debbie said. “Maybe when people have their own challenges, there is a special bond or understanding that occurs.”

When LVA moved to the Bloomfield Public Library, Debbie took the training to become a tutor. It meant juggling her tutoring schedule with her many other activities but why not? She’d worked with adults before and she still enjoyed teaching. So, with a few modifications, she was off and running. “One of the things that goes with being visually impaired is that you have to do a little more preparation,” Debbie noted.

That includes making minor adjustments, such as having two copies of the same material, one for herself and another for her student, and creating worksheets in large print. She also translates material from Braille and employs speech recognition software.

“Sometimes I look up free worksheets on the internet and other times I create my own,” she said. “It depends upon what I am teaching.” Debbie is a big fan of the Challenger series and highly recommends it for adult learners.

Through her many years of experience, Debbie developed a mantra: “With a little bit of planning and very few adaptations, someone who is visually impaired can easily become a student or a tutor,” she said.