Literacy Volunteers of America, Essex & Passaic Counties, NJ Inc.

January 2026

Volume 14, Issue 1

The Insider

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The Insider, the monthly newsletter of LVA Essex & Passaic Counties, will keep you in the loop on all the organization’s upcoming events.

We are grateful to all those who make up our community as we step into the new year. Among those we are thankful for are our dedicated volunteer board of directors. Each of them contributes their time and expertise to help us stay on track and continue growing. Pictured left to right: Jordan Fried, Shonda Moore, Louis D’Onofrio, Sally Rice, Diana Agu, and Jamie Steiger.

Literacy Volunteers of America Essex & Passaic Counties

90 Broad Street, 2nd Floor, Bloomfield, NJ 07003
(973) 566-6200, ext. 217 or 225

195 Gregory Avenue, 2nd Floor, Passaic, NJ 07055
(973) 470-0039

Cristhian Barcelos        -Executive Director
                                           [email protected]
Jorge Chavez                 -Data Processing Coordinator
                                           [email protected]
Sydnay Eckerling         -Education Coordinator
                                           [email protected]
Valeria Garrido             -Social Media & Newsletter Coordinator
                                           [email protected]
Cheryl Locastro            -Tutor Support Specialist & ESOL Instructor
                                           [email protected]
Marisol Ramirez           -Student Coordinator
                                           [email protected]

Greetings LVA family!

As we step into 2026, many of us are setting intentions—small, practical commitments that help us move forward with steadiness and hope. At LVAEP, we’re starting the year grounded in something that matters even more during times of uncertainty: community. Community is what reminds us we’re not alone, that progress is possible, and that learning can be both personal and shared.

In this month’s newsletter, you’ll meet Carol and Lynn, whose stories reflect the quiet strength that fuels our mission. Carol’s story is a reminder that new beginnings don’t have to be loud to be life-changing, sometimes they start with a single brave step, taken one week at a time. And in Lynn’s story, we see how experience, patience, and care translate into meaningful support: after nearly four decades in the legal field, Lynn has brought her steadiness and encouragement to tutoring since Spring 2024, helping learners build skills, confidence, and momentum through consistent, personalized work.

We’re also featuring an opinion piece on how New Jersey’s sustained investment in career and technical education is delivering real outcomes, expanded programs and facilities, increased capacity, and thousands more students served in high-demand fields. It’s a timely example of what can happen when communities treat education as long-term infrastructure: something you build, maintain, and improve because lives and local economies depend on it.

Finally, our “In the News” section invites you to reconnect with reading—whether you’re looking for fresh nonfiction recommendations for 2026 or reflecting on a recent survey finding that 40% of Americans reported not reading a single book in 2025. That statistic is sobering, but it’s also an invitation. Libraries, tutors, conversation partners, and learning communities like ours exist to make reading and learning more accessible, more social, and more joyful.

Thank you for being part of LVAEP. Here’s to a year of growth—together.

In the News

Copy and paste the highlighted website into an internet search bar to view the following stories.

“Put these 12 eye-opening books on your 2026 reading “list. NPR. https://bit.ly/49ZayJY

“40% Of Americans Did Not Read a Single Book in 2025: The Latest Survey of American Reading Habits.” Bookriot. https://bit.ly/4610kpZ

Back in Peru, Carol had earned her degree in accounting, an accomplishment she is proud of as proof that she can do hard things. Having arrived in the U.S., she understood that learning English would support her goals, and she has already received a promotion thanks to her efforts both at work and in learning the language.

Tutor Training Workshops

Online Training, by Ally Schmidt
Platform: Zoom (sponsored by LNJ)
Wednesdays, 6 to 8 pm
Feb. 11, 18, 25, and Mar. 4 and 11, 2026

Online Training, by Marilyn Bellis/Laura Pistoia
Platform: Zoom (sponsored by LNJ)
Wednesdays and Mondays, 9:30 to 11:30 am
Jan. 21, 26, 28, and Feb. 2 and 4, 2026

Tutor Support Workshops

"Understanding Refugee Needs," with Lynn Sternstein
Platform: Google Meet
Wednesday, February 18, 2026, 10:00 am – 11:30 am

"AI in Adult Education," with Jeff Arnott
Platform: Google Meet
Monday, March 23, 2026, 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Tutor Study Circle
Facilitator: Cheryl Locastro

Thursday, March 12, 2026, at 3pm
(General in-person meeting)

http://www.lvaep.org/workshops.html

Getting to Know Us
Calor, LVA student
by Valeria Garrido

Carol grew up in Peru and arrived in the United States about 3 years ago. The journey wasn’t simple, she says; there were difficulties, but she also describes herself as someone who adapts. The way she tells it, Carol’s path forward began, as many important things do, with a friend.

A friend told Carol about Literacy Volunteers of America, and she signed up. She began learning English about a year ago—still early enough that each new phrase can feel like a small leap. “I’m learning and can communicate a little better,” she says. English isn’t about sounding perfect. It’s about being able to connect with people, without fear.

Carol loves learning, and she wants to study at college here. In Peru, she completed college and became an accountant. That achievement matters to her—not just as a credential, but as proof that she can do hard things and finish what she starts. Now she’s doing it again, in a new language and a new place.

She works at a supermarket, where English shows up in quick, practical bursts: greetings, questions, instructions, small talk that moves as fast as the checkout line. She listens closely and notices patterns. She says listening to others at work has helped her learn more. Over time, the everyday exchanges become a kind of classroom—real life, repeated daily.

When she talks about what she wants to improve, she doesn’t hesitate: listening and speaking. Those are the skills that demand courage in real time. You can’t pause a conversation. You just step into it, try, and try again.

Carol measures success in more than one way. Her greatest achievement, she says, is seeing her family well. And she recently received a promotion at work, something she’s proud of. It’s a milestone that says: you’re building a life here, and it’s taking shape.

She also carries loss. Carol speaks about her grandmother with tenderness and pain. “It still brings tears to my eyes,” she says. She copes by leaning on her family's love.

If you ask Carol about a favorite book, she mentions Camila. She says it helped her face problems and taught her to look at the stars and tell them whatever she wanted when she felt alone. It’s an image that fits her: honest, hopeful, and quietly brave.

Carol is grateful for her teachers and tutors—an important part of her life. Her advice to other students is simple: don’t be afraid to learn. Seek the means and strive for your dreams. Carol’s dream is still moving forward—one new word, one shared conversation, one step at a time.

Literacy opens a wide door to life. Help us keep that door open with your donation!

Thanks in large part to you, we can aid hundreds of students each year. Please continue your efforts to improve the lives of others by giving the gift of literacy.

http://www.lvaep.org/donate.html

How N.J.’s investment in career education is paying off. Opinion.

NJ.com, January 11, 2026
Written by: Jackie Burke

Collaboration. Partnership. Bipartisanship. These are ideals for a reason: they fuel progress. Look to New Jersey’s delivery of career education to see these ideals in action.

Over the past few years, the state’s county vocational-technical schools have added or expanded 81 career programs and completed 21 construction projects, with 10 of those being brand-new standalone buildings. These projects are increasing the schools’ capacity by 13.5% to serve more than 4,700 additional students in programs such as biotechnology, cybersecurity, global logistics, welding and more — all tied to local and statewide workforce needs.

This expansion is a result of the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act, which included $275 million in state bond funding to help New Jersey’s county vocational-technical schools meet both student and employer demands for career and technical education (CTE). When this measure was put on the ballot in 2018, the vocational-technical schools averaged nearly 2.5 applicants for every available seat, and employers sought stronger pipelines of candidates with advanced skills.

New Jersey voters passed it and Bond Act grants became available. County vocational-technical schools consulted with area employers, workforce development boards and institutions of higher education to propose projects in response to both industry and student needs, ensuring new programs prepare students for careers where there is demand and opportunity for growth and long-term success.

County governments saw the value of these projects and pledged a 25% funding match for their respective school’s proposals.

Atlantic County Institute of Technology (ACIT) is in the final group of county vocational-technical schools to complete its Bond Act-funded construction project. But, the wait will be worth it when a brand-new school building opens with impressive features, including an airplane hangar. […]

For the full story please copy and paste this link on your browser: https://bit.ly/4r2Fb79

Student Resources

Learning a new culture is more than studying a language. Tutoring is more than learning techniques. Our “Resources” webpage covers everything from legal matters, health care, & scholarships for immigrants, to professional development for tutors. Give us a look @: http://www.lvaep.org/students.html

Team Spotlight (Cont.)
Lynn Menschenfreund, Tutor
by Valeria Garrido

Lynn has spent nearly four decades in the legal profession, a world where language is never casual. Words carry weight; meaning matters; listening is part of the job. In spring 2024, after six weeks of tutor training, she brought that same respect for language to Literacy Volunteers (LVAEP).

She joined for a simple reason: she wanted to help in a way that felt immediate and impactful. Today, Lynn works with three to four students at a time. They arrive with different histories, levels of schooling, and confidence. The challenge, she says, is designing lessons that meet students where they are, so everyone leaves with something they can use in daily life.

Recently, Lynn assigned what sounded like a classic school task: choose a book in English, read it, and write a lengthy book report. The assignment did what good assignments do—it revealed the students, not just their grammar. Lynn learned that many of her students regularly read for pleasure in English. She watched them choose topics that mattered, analyze plot and character in a second language, and reach for precise words to explain what they felt. Their insights often went far beyond their current level.

When students talked about a character’s struggles or joys, they were also talking—carefully, bravely—about family, work, and relationships. And they kept going. The reports took weeks, and the students stayed with the project until it was finished. That follow-through, Lynn says, is a kind of courage: showing up repeatedly, even when the words don’t come easily.

What gives Lynn the most pride isn’t flashy. It’s the quiet thank-you at the end of class, when a student names something they learned and claims it as theirs. Those moments tell her the lesson landed where it counts: outside the classroom.

Tutoring has also changed how Lynn sees her own story. Working with students who were denied educational opportunities in their countries of origin has made her more grateful for the education she received, and more committed to helping others access learning now. She’s impressed by LVAEP’s sincere effort to recognize student achievements and to support adults of all ages as they build better lives for themselves and their families.

If Lynn could leave her students with one message, it would be this: learning takes time and patience. Many small steps add up to one great leap forward. Never give up on learning.