NLLLC Celebrates Volunteerism

By: Isabella Fry

Newfoundland and Labrador Laubach Literacy Council (NLLLC) held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Conference at the Hotel Marystown on October
25 - 27, 2001. This year the AGM was planned and hosted by volunteers from the Burin Peninsula Literacy Council. Financial support for councils to send volunteer representation to the conference was made possible by the Literacy Development Council of Newfoundland and Laubach Literacy of Canada.

Several workshops were delivered on Friday to meet the needs of the various participants at the conference. Two workshops were offered for tutors: Lillian Moores delivered a workshop on Cara Assessment and Isabella Fry delivered a workshop on the Voyager Series. Two workshops were offered for volunteer executive committees: Paula Power delivered a workshop on Volunteer Recruitment and Isabella Fry delivered a workshop on Future Direction and Planning.

Olive Reeves of the Exploits Literacy Counci-Grand Falls-Windsor delivered a student workshop on Practical Tips for Adult Students in the morning and in the afternoon Dorothy Silver from New Brunswick, a member of Laubach Literacy of Canada Board, delivered a workshop on the TREE Committee for LLC students. T.R.E.E. stands for Teamwork to Raise Education and Equality and is the National Adult Student Committee for Laubach Literacy of Canada. The purpose of T.R.E.E. is to provide a voice for students and an opportunity to participate in the promotion of literacy awareness. In keeping with raising the awareness for literacy initiatives, the students planted a tree in the front of the town hall on Saturday afternoon.

The provincial AGM and election of officers was held on Saturday and Mata Mangal of the Exploits Literacy Council in Grand Falls-Windsor assumed the position of president. We wish Mata every success in her two-year term as president. The other new member elected for the provincial board were Mike Powell as Vice-President, Ed Oldford as secretary and Vanessa Reid as Treasurer. Lillian Moores will continue in her position as Provincial Training Officer. The conference completed their festivities at a banquet honouring the volunteers of NLLLC. The Exploits Literacy Council members worked hard to celebrate voluntarism by presenting small tokens of appreciation to all volunteers present. The Honourable Judy Foote gave the keynote address and spoke of the importance of literacy and volunteers to the province.

Also during the banquet, Mata Mangal presented Kenneth Faulkner with the Student of the Year Award from the provincial committee. Kenneth was awarded this honour because of his commitment to learning while continuing a full time job. To recognize and to further celebrate the Year of the Volunteer, the NLLLC board presented the Susie Day Volunteer of the Year Award to Paula Power of the Humber Literacy Council. This award has been named in Susie's honour because she was the first Newfoundland Laubach trainer and because of her unfailing dedication to literacy over the past twenty years. Susie remains an active tutor and volunteer today having helped twenty-seven students on the Burin Peninsula acquire their GED. Paula's volunteer work for the past twelve years has extended from serving as student- tutor coordinator and treasurer for the local council to serving on the provincial level as treasurer for the NLLLC Board and as editorial member for First Time Readers and the Literacy Notepad.

The recipients for the Student of the Year A ward and for the Volunteer Award were selected by an unbiased committee consisting of Bev Tetford, Coordinator of the Western Memorial Volunteer Services for Western Newfoundland, Marilyn Forward, Laubach Literacy of Canada trainer and volunteer and Alicia Sutton, Strategic Social Plan Coordinator for the Western Region.

Many thanks to all who made this event a huge success.