7.3 New Literacy Program is a Joint Effort

The following article, written by Sue Ann Ellis, appeared in the Walkerton Herald-Times on June 10, 1992. The Herald-Times is a weekly, paid-circulation newspaper serving southern Bruce County in Ontario.

Herald-Times

A new program for the developmentally delayed has just been completed at Walkerton District Secondary School on Thursday nights.

A 15-week literacy program has helped developmentally delayed adults learn the alphabet and numbers.

It is an experimental program, the first of its kind in Bruce County and very likely the first anywhere for adults of this type, said Bill Turvill of the Bruce County Board of Education.

It was a joint effort of the Walkerton Literacy Council, Walkerton and District Community Support Services and the Bruce County Board of Education, which funded the program.

Turvill got the program together through the Adult Basic Education Program which is available through the province.

The program is geared toward adults without a Grade 8 education and, now it has been expanded to delayed adults, said Turvill.

“There is now interest in other towns of Bruce County. We were using Walkerton as a prototype,” he said.

Cindy Davidson, Literacy Council co-ordinator, said the students responded well and the teachers saw a lot of improvement.