Literacy Council Needs Volunteers

More than 150 new volunteer tutors are needed to help area adults learn to speak, read and write English. Currently on a waiting list to be matched with tutors, these adult students are eager to improve their literacy skills by working one-to-one with a trained volunteer.

The Literacy Council of Northern Virginia (LCNV) helps adults learn to speak, read and write English through one-to-one tutoring programs and English classes. Specifically targeting those adults at the lowest literacy levels, LCNV offers the only individualized adult literacy tutoring programs in Northern Virginia. The ESOL Tutoring program works with non-English speakers who are likely illiterate in their native language who want to work on speaking, understanding, reading and writing English, while the Basic Literacy program works with native and fluent English speakers to improve their ability to read and write.

Each year, LCNV conducts eight tutor training workshops to prepare volunteer tutors to provide individualized instruction to adult students who want to improve their English literacy skills. Each tutor is trained, matched with a student and encouraged to meet weekly for an hour and a half to help the student improve his or her reading and writing skills. No teaching or foreign language skills are required. A $40 training fee covers the cost of books, materials, and instruction. All tutor training workshops take place at the James Lee Community Center, 2855 Annandale Road in Falls Church, but the tutoring will take place in a library or community center in the tutor’s neighborhood. Students and tutors are matched based on geographic proximity to make the weekly sessions as convenient as possible.

The next Basic Literacy tutor training workshop will take place on three consecutive Saturdays: Oct. 17, 24, 31, from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

For more information, e-mail volunteers@lcnv.org or call 703-237-0866 x111.



‘Cuts for the Cure’ At Tysons Galleria

Salon Bleu in Tysons Galleria is hosting a fund raiser on behalf of The Maryland Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “Cuts for the Cure” will take place on Sunday, Oct. 4. All of the service revenue from this event will be donated to Komen Maryland. This organization will use the money to fund breast cancer research, education and screening and treatment programs such as the “National Philanthropic Trust Breast Cancer Fund” to provide an endowment for breast cancer initiatives.