Literacy Texas Newsletter, January 15, 2022
You’re not alone
It’s been a hard couple of years, hasn’t it? Every day I’m impressed and humbled by all you continue to accomplish – against some pretty steep odds.
You keep finding ways to make learning happen, to make sure adult learners and their families feel supported, and to keep the doors open – even when those doors have been virtual.
You’re truly amazing.
You keep showing up for the people of Texas, and I want to make sure that Literacy Texas keeps showing up for you. After all, if you look at the Literacy Texas mission page, you’ll see words like connect, equip, learn, participate – all simple actions that are at the heart of what we strive to do for you every day.
We don’t want you to feel like you’re trying to do it all yourself. We want you to feel like there’s a place to turn to, that can provide some of what you need and make life a little easier.
So, planning for our annual conference and our regional symposiums – seven this year, as we welcome new partner Laredo – has kicked into high gear, and we’ve also added some extra training sessions to the 2022 calendar, such as the upcoming virtual session on Adult Learner Persistence, and the Leadership Training for new directors and emerging leaders. We’ve revamped our website Resources section and started the Texas Literacy Network.
We hope all of that helps, and we always want you to tell us if there are ways we can help you that we’re not thinking of.
And I’d like to urge you again to take a look at Intake to Outcomes (I2O), and see if there’s a place for it in your program this year.
It’s been genuinely exciting to hear from you, one by one, saying things like, “I took a look and I loved everything I saw,” and “This is going to help so much!”
Some of you are going to use I2O in place of your current new tutor training; others of you are going to use it as supplementary professional development for your instructors, and others are still deciding.
And honestly? However it fits best into your program is fine by me. My goal is to provide you with a quality resource that can save you time and money. I’m heartened that it’s already doing that for some of you, because that’s what we exist to do.
Thanks for being a friend of literacy!
Steve Banta
Executive Director
Literacy Texas
PS: Did I mention you’re amazing? Because you are. Keep transforming Texas this year!
LET US KNOW
What’s been happening in literacy around Texas?
LEFT: South Texas Literacy Coalition spotted a problem with a solution in a local park in Edinburg: “We’re not sure who installed this Little Free Library at Norma Linda Park, but it really needs some care!! We decided to remove it and will be replacing some of the wood, weather proofing, installing plexiglass, and painting it… Once we fix it up we will replenish it with plenty of brand new books!!!”
RIGHT: Musicians at Scarborough Elementary School in Houston performed for fellow students and their teachers at a celebration of 100,000 home libraries provided for Texas families by the Barbara Bush Houston Literacy Foundation. “We loved providing these students with some books for their own home libraries!”
Do you have a photo we could highlight in a coming newsletter? Get in touch!
The current newsletter also includes:
ADVOCACY: We’re making the case for data in our most recent blog post.
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