This family-friendly race is sponsored by Village Books and Fairhaven Runners and all proceeds from this 5K event will benefit the Whatcom Literacy Council!

Participants will enjoy a combination road-trail course, with slight grades and beautiful scenery.

The race will feature age-group awards and door prizes.

There will also be a free Kids ½-Mile Fun Run at 8:45 am before the 5K, beginning on the Village Green.

Pre-Registration/Entry Donation through June 27th is $10.00 / individual or $20.00 / family.
There are (3) options to register for the race:

1) Register online at getmeregistered.com.

2) Download & print the Registration Form and return or mail it to -

c/o Literacy Run, Whatcom Literacy Council, PO Box 1292, Bellingham, WA  98227

3) Pick up race registration forms at Fairhaven Runners or Village Books and return or mail it to -

c/o Literacy Run, Whatcom Literacy Council, PO Box 1292, Bellingham, WA  98227

Day-of Registration / Entry Donation is $15.00 / individual and $25.00 / family.

After the race, there will be live music, good company, good food, awards and a drawing for random prizes, all on the Village Green.

If you have any questions, please contact Village Books (360-671-2626) or Fairhaven Runners (360-676-4955).

Trivia Bee 2013

We would like to express our gratitude to everyone who helped the Whatcom Literacy Council put on an exciting and successful Trivia Bee & Silent Auction.

Special thanks to co-hosts Ken Jennings, JEOPARDY! King and Scotty VanDryver, KAFE 104.1 Radio Host.

We would also like to thank our volunteer judges for the evening Deborra Garrett, Whatcom Superior Court Judge, Bob Keller, WWU Professor Emeritus, and Jason Gauer, NALCO Engineer.

Thank you to Miss Whatcom County for selling raffle tickets.

Thanks much to our stalwart volunteers, board members, and staff who all dedicated their evening to support the Whatcom Literacy Council.

Cheers to all of the teams and to the crowd for their exuberant participation. And congratulations to the local law firm Adelstein, Sharpe & Serka’s team “The Foreign Legion III: The Foreign Legion and the Prisoner of Azkaban” who were the winners of the Bee for the 3rd year in a row.

THANK YOU so much for your support in helping to create an extraordinary and fun-filled event!

TEAMS Check In at 6:15pm.

DOORS OPEN at 6:00pm for the Silent Auction.

TRIVIA BEE COMPETITION will begin promptly at 7:00pm.

VOLUNTEERS - Please check your email for check in times.

CHEER TICKETS can still be purchased at the door, at Village Books, or at the Whatcom Literacy Council Office.

Online registration is no longer available.
Call the WLC Office at 360-647-3264 ext. 101 if you have questions.

(Photo courtesy of CBS News)

In February of 2013, Ed Bray at 89 years old, read his first book.

You too can help an adult learn to read with the support of the experienced and knowledgeable staff the WLC!

Congratulations to tutor Kat and learner Hua for completing over 90 hours of tutoring over the past year!! We are excited to share that this pair has met many goals. Over the past year Hua has increased her English proficiency level, including skills such as conversation, vocabulary, pronunciation and reading. She also has increased knowledge of health-related topics and is better able to speak English with health care professionals like nurses and doctors. In addition, Hua is pleased that her computer skills have expanded and she is now able to access online websites, and can fill out online job applications. Way to go you two!

VOTE for Whatcom Literacy Council as your favorite non-profit and help us win $1500 from Bob Wallin Insurance! Click on the link below, find Whatcom Literacy Council and vote. At the end of the month the nonprofit with the most votes gets the award!

http://www.bwicares.com/?p=1285

ELL Coordinator Summer Ostlund (left) with Donor Judith Culver (right).

There is currently a great need in our community to provide educational opportunities for English Language Learners (ELLs) who are also beginning readers. These individuals did not have the opportunity to go to school to learn to read and write as children in their home countries. As adult immigrants, they are learning English at the same time that they learn basic literacy skills. This high need population is frequently underserved as they are often not successful in traditional adult ELL classes due to their unique needs.

At the Whatcom Literacy Council ELLs who are beginning readers often come to us from Mexico, Central America, Africa and are also recent refugees from the Middle East. Many of these adult learners share personal stories of poverty in their home countries where they were forced to work as children and did not have the option to go to school because their families could not afford the tuition. Other learners express that they did not receive access to education due to a medical disability, war or political unrest in their home country or a variety of other reasons.

Emerging readers need a lot of repetition with basic literacy skills. Finding available materials at this level is challenging because it is common for them to be geared toward children or individuals whose native language is English. The other option – to create materials for use with learners – can be very time consuming for tutors. Having access to appropriate materials greatly improves student learning as well as tutor satisfaction and long term learner and tutor retention.

Technology can also be a valuable support for learners as it is a challenge to find materials at a learner’s independent level. Digital voice recorders allow for a tutor to record key points from a lesson for the learner to take home and review independently. These tools can be used by learners with no prior computer literacy skills. Learners who have previously been unable to study independently find that they can practice very effectively on their own with the help of a recorder. It is exciting to see learners gain confidence and progress more rapidly as they use digital recorders on their own.

A $400 donation from WLC supporter Judith Culver will go a long way to provide necessary materials and technology for learners. These supplies will be used for our WLC Ferndale small group class for ELL beginning readers and for our learners who are working with 1 to 1 tutors.

Please contact us for more information about getting involved and supporting our ELL Beginning Reader program.