whatcomliteracy.org

What Rhymes with Fun? RUN! (Walking is Fun, Too!)

WLC Staff — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:19:50 +0000

Village Books & Fairhaven Runners 13th Annual Run/Walk for Literacy is coming up on Saturday, June 16. All proceeds from the race benefit Whatcom Literacy Council.

Pregister online – www.getmeregistered.com – or at Village Books or Fairhaven Runners. Preregistration is only $10 for individual and $20 for a family. You can also register on the day of the race beginning at 8am up until 8:45. Day of registration fee is $15 for individual or $25 for a family.

Bring the kids for a FREE 1/2 mile kids race that starts at 8:45. Each child who participates in the race will receive a coupon for a free ice cream cone!

WLC Learners Met 536 Goals in 2011!

WLC Staff — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 19:13:51 +0000

We are thrilled to announce that in 2011, WLC learners met 536 of their individual learning goals. This is the most goals ever met in 1 year! We are so thankful to our staff, volunteers, board members and supporters for helping to make this happen. Just think of the impact that each goal has had on a learner’s life!

41 Parenting Goals were met.

85 Employment Goals were met

271 Education Goals were met

85 Civic & Societal Goals were met.

54 Computer Literacy Goals were met.

A Big Thank You to Mr. Shaffer’s 5th Graders!

WLC Staff — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:32:11 +0000

What happens when a group of enthusiastic 5th graders raise funds through a read-a-thon? Lots of good things! Yesterday Rachel Myers, our Executive Director, had the honor of receiving a big, beautiful check for $200 from Mr. Shaffer’s 5th Grade class at Ten Mile Creek Elementary School in the Meridian School District. His class had decided to raise money through a read-a-thon to purchase several new books for the school library as a project to support World Read Aloud Day. When they realized that they had raised more than they needed for the books, they started thinking about what to do with the extra money. After checking out the WLC website and video, they chose to give the extra funds to us!

Clearly we were very honored! Rachel went out to visit their classroom yesterday and was given a beautifully designed and decorated check.

Each student drew a small picture to create the border of the check – and they all signed it!

Rachel also had the opportunity to hear some of the class members read “I Want My Hat Back” and “Extra Yarn”, two of the books that they purchased for the library.

Reading "I Want My Hat Back"

Such a fun day, and such an honor to be chosen by the class. Thank you again to all of Mr. Shaffer’s 5th Graders!

Our 16th(!) Annual Trivia Bee is Happening on April 20

WLC Staff — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 19:25:16 +0000

Calling all trivia buffs and lovers of Jeopardy! Please join us for the 16th Annual Trivia Bee on April 20th. Tickets will go on sale in mid-March at Village Books, but team registration is open NOW. Click here for more info on entering your team of 3 people into Whatcom County’s Trivia Championship!

First Look at Some New Video!

WLC Staff — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 17:58:20 +0000

Thanks to a generous grant from the Medina Foundation, we are working on putting together some new videos featuring some of our tutors and one of our English Language Learners. We are still working on editing all of the footage, but we were so excited about what we have, that we just had to post a short preview featuring Lauren, a fantastic ELL tutor. Enjoy!

Lauren, ELL Tutor

Check out this terrific snippet of one of our wonderful ELL tutors! Much more to come!

WLC Monthly Tutor Info Session Rescheduled for Jan 25

WLC Staff — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:35:10 +0000

Due to the poor road conditions and severe weather, the monthly tutor information session scheduled for tonight – Wednesday, January 18 – will be moved to next Wednesday, January 25. The session will start at 5pm, and will be held in the lecture room at the Bellingham Public Library. Anyone interested in learning more about becoming a tutor is encouraged to attend.

WLC Office Open Limited Hours Today

WLC Staff — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:27:27 +0000

Due to poor weather and road conditions, the WLC office will be only be open for a short time today. Hopefully we will be back in the office tomorrow. Staff is available via email throughout the day.

Gina Barrieau-Gonzales, Programs Manager, gina@whatcomliteracy.org

Summer Ostlund, ELL Program Coordinator, summer@whatcomliteracy.org

Jessica Hilburn, ALP Program Coordinator, jessica@whatcomliteracy.org

Rachel Myers, Executive Director, rachel@whatcomliteracy.org

WLC Office is closed Tuesday, Jan 17

WLC Staff — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 22:40:02 +0000

We will keep you posted regarding our hours tomorrow. If it snows heavily, we will likely at least open later than normal. Be safe everyone!

A Note From the Past…

WLC Staff — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:28:32 +0000

Today we cleaned out our storage unit. We want to start the year fresh! While we were there, we found a document entitled, “Whatcom Literacy Council – A Brief History”. It details WLC’s path from the early 1980′s through the mid ’90′s. It says that in the first few years there were about 30 learners and 30 volunteer tutors. Now we serve around 500 learners with the help of about 200 tutors each year! Amazing to see how we have grown. Thanks to all of our friends and supporters for making it happen!

Wonderful Crowd at the Literacy Breakfast!

WLC Staff — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:50:36 +0000

We were so thrilled to fill the room at our annual Literacy Breakfast at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. It was a great morning with stories shared by a WLC learner and his tutor, along with the wonderful reading suggestions from Nancy Pearl. The best news of all – the event raised more than $25,000 to support our work!