International Literacy Day

September 8 was celebrated as International Literacy throughout Newfoundland and Labrador. The following is a summary of some of the activities which took place around the province. The Council/ would like to thank all reamers, organizations and literacy advocates who took part in these activities. All of these efforts continue to bring literacy to the forefront and help create exciting opportunities for those who involve themselves in various forms of literacy Paining.

Council Chairperson Brings Greetings
Dr. William Pagan, Chair of the Literacy Development Council, brought greetings from the Council to the reamers, volunteers, and staff at the Rabbittown Learners' Centre, St. John's, and presented a book on behalf of the Council to the Centre's Library. There was a pleasant and informal luncheon, followed by a talk with the reamers.

Gander holds Flag-Raising Ceremony
The Central Eastern Literacy Outreach Office and, Gander and Area Laubach Literacy Council organized a flag-raising at the Gander Town Hall and the Gander Post Office. They also held an information display at the two malls. Approximately 100 packages of timbits, with a note on International Literacy Day attached, were distributed to various businesses and agencies in the area. A Literacy Fair was held at a school with games and activities such as Word Bingo, Unscramble the Word, Reading Tent, Wheel of Fortune, Spelling Bee, and Find a Word. Kids and parents were encouraged to attend. Mayor Claude Elliott, MHA Sandra Kelly, MP George Baker and Percey Barrett from the Premier's office attended and spoke on the importance of literacy. There were lots of prizes given to the children. Food and drink, donated by local businesses, was served to all in attendance.

Rabbitown Holds Brunch
The Rabbittown Learners program celebrated this special occasion with a full day of events. At 11:00 a.m., the reamers and invited guests were treated to an informal brunch and discussion on literacy. Special guests included Dr. Bill Pagan of The Literacy Development Council; Ian Wright of the Skills Assessment Training Centre; Sister Patricia Marie Decker of the Saint Patrick's Mercy Home; Walter Andrews of the Rabbittown Learners Program Advisory Committee; Pat Murray, Manager of the Rabbittown Community Centre; and, John Lamkin, Chairperson of the Rabbittown Community Association.

In the afternoon, the staff organized a word Bingo for the Learners. Prizes consisted of Newfoundland books, dictionaries, thesaurus, and other books. The coordinator also presented reamers with T-shirts bearing the Rabbittown Learners Program logo.

Humber Literacy Council Holds Display
The Humber Literacy Council had a display at Valley Mall to promote the day.

The council is a member of Laubach Literacy of Canada and for more than 10 years council volunteers have assisted adults in the Bay of Islands area improve their reading, writing and numeracy skills.

The Humber Reading Centre is located at the College of the North Atlantic's Comer Brook campus.

Open Learning Centre Opens In Darrell
Celebration of International Literacy Day took on a special significance this year in the Twillingate-New World Island area with the launching of an Open Learning Centre (OLC) at the Isles Training Centre in Durrell.

Sponsored by the local voluntary interest group calling themselves Learning Information For Everyone (LIFE, Inc.) of Twillingate, New World Island, Change Islands, the new reaming centre is funded through HRDC in the attempt to help those who have problems with literacy and/or numeracy cope better in today's world.

Open Learning, explained Gillard, will be available daily from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, with students attending at their own convenience. Offering levels I - lit through the Adult Basic Education (ABE) program, the instruction and guidance will be given by two well qualified individuals. Dean Perry, who has worked at the centre previously, will be coordinator of the open reaming - the school principal, George Combden, will be the other instructor.

Labrador to Celebrate Later
Labrador decided to delay their celebrations until October. Their celebrations will be featured in our December issue.