This is a series about efforts to improve literacy in Floyd County. National Literacy Day is Tuesday. COMING TUESDAY: Students discuss their motivation

Georgia Northwestern Technical College’s adult literacy programs offer local residents the opportunity to improve their English skills, so vital to navigating daily life.

The cornerstone of the program, says Barbara Raybon, volunteer coordinator for the Language and Literacy Center, is its team of volunteers.

Volunteers to help mentor and tutor are always needed, and a commitment of even two hours a week can make a difference, say program organizers. You simply need to be a high school or GED graduate with a “degree of caring.”

For more information or to volunteer, call 706-295-6972.

We asked some local literacy volunteers to share — in their own words — what volunteering and helping fellow adults with their reading and writing skills means to them.

Click here to see the Rome Floyd County Library's Web site.

Here’s what they had to say:

No teaching experience required

My first experience as a tutor with the Rome-Floyd Language and Literacy Center began when I stopped to have my car washed.

As I made conversation with the car wash employees as they put the finishing touches on my car, one of the young women confided in me that she would like to take the GED but needed to review her basic subjects since it had been several years since she was in school. My husband and I had recently moved to Rome, and I had recently retired from teaching GED subjects at Gwinnett Technical College. Since I had planned to investigate being a volunteer tutor, I offered to meet this potential student at the library, and she began her study.

That was five years ago, and since then, there have been many students, and it has all been a joy.

Barbara Raybon and her capable, friendly staff at the Rome-Floyd County Library are there to guide each tutor, whether that person is teaching a non-reader or someone with GED as a goal. Tutors need no prior experience in teaching or tutoring. The only requirement is a desire to help someone reach a language goal, whether it be reading, writing, speaking, GED or some other educational goal.

If you decide to try tutoring, Barbara’s goal is for both the tutor and the student to feel comfortable with one another, and Barbara has an intuitive gift when it comes to matching tutors and students. You and your student choose the amount of time and the place that works best for both of you. A well-planned hour a week can go a long way toward helping a student reach a goal. There are excellent tutoring rooms on the second floor of the Rome-Floyd County Library and all the books and materials you could ever want or need! I encourage you to talk to Barbara to see if tutoring is right for you.

My students have become my friends, and I look forward to our time together.

Students are motivated and grateful to have someone to partner with them. One student was unable to meet personally with me, so I used the telephone to guide her along, and I have also used e-mail for teaching! Being a volunteer tutor is one of the joys of my life. I encourage you to investigate the opportunities available. You will never regret it! Go for it!

Jean Fletcher

Meeting and helping students at their level

Literacy! Language! I had never thought much about those terms until a few years ago when I heard someone quote the statistics regarding the number of people in Floyd County who could not read. As much as I love to read, it was heartbreaking to realize that there were others who can’t enjoy books, magazines and other reading materials as I do.

The Language and Literacy Center was begging for volunteers, and since I had just finished a two-year obligation, I thought, “why not?” My idea at the time was that I would help students who were functioning on about the sixth-grade level to enhance their reading skills.

Didn’t happen, at least not right away. My first student had to start with the alphabet; ... suddenly I was into lesson-planning. By the time this student stopped coming to the center, he had progressed to reading and writing simple exercises.

My current assignment (after a bit of a crash course) is to monitor students working with the Rosetta Stone language computer program and the Many Things computer program, a real hoot considering that my husband thinks I am computer illiterate. (That is another story.) Some students have never used a computer, and some work quite well on their own. This has been exciting and interesting.

So what does being a literacy tutor mean to me? It means meeting the students at their level and helping them to improve their skills in order to better their lot in life. You may wonder why they didn’t just go to school when they should have to get those skills.

There are many stories on the “why” factor. What’s important is that they recognize the need and are actively addressing that need. Another factor that causes me to continue being a literacy tutor is that by impacting today’s students, hopefully we are also impacting and improving the chances that their children won’t eventually rotate through the Language and Literacy Center.

Vivian Benton

Rewards of volunteering are great

The monetary wages paid for mentoring adults are non-existent, but the rewards are great in having the ability to observe adult students grow in their understanding of our difficult and often confusing language.

Teachers or mentors in the program are aided by two factors that help to make the process easier and pleasurable. The coordinator is Barbara Raybon, who brings energy, enthusiasm and expertise to her job as the leader. She is an excellent administrator and provides materials, for both the mentor and the adult learner, that have been well-researched and are easy to follow. This program is sponsored by the Language and Literacy Center of Georgia Northwestern Technical College.

Mentoring is satisfying in that it proves the adults — no matter their age or amount of previous experience — can learn if provided the proper environment together with large doses of patience, both by the mentor and the student.

Teachers and mentors of adults are amply rewarded by helping these students discover that although they are older they do possess the necessary tools, perhaps a bit rusty, for better understanding the world around them. Another plus for the mentor is to lead the adult to the pleasures of leisure reading, which previously were not an available option. Some adults have expressed their joy in being able to read to their own young children.

Some adult students in this program are seeking to pass the General Educational Development (GED) diploma since their age precludes securing a high school diploma. Other students are immigrants wishing to pass the necessary test to secure U.S. citizenship. Both pathways require the ability to persevere. Effective mentors are those who constantly seek to encourage their students in what for many is a difficult change in lifestyle.

Mentoring is a rewarding endeavor for retirees and others who have some free time and desire to make an impact on the lives of an important segment of the population of Rome and Floyd, Gordon, Polk and Walker counties. This mentor heartily recommends participation in this important volunteer activity.

Judson Moss

Literacy center opens doors

I became a volunteer after reading an article earlier this month regarding the literacy program offered at the Rome library. The article stated that there was a need for volunteers. I felt the call, came in and spoke with Barbara Raybon, volunteer coordinator for the program. Barbara eloquently shared the details of the program, and I knew it was something that I had to become involved with.

I see this Language and Literacy Center as a two-fold open door: first to individuals seeking to improve their skills and abilities, then to individuals who are looking to share theirs with others.

The ideals behind this program strongly resonate one of the proverbs I live by: “He who waters, will also himself be watered.”

Emma Mosely-Brown

Helping navigate a new culture

After moving to Rome in 2007, I was delighted to discover that Georgia Northwestern Technical College offered ESL (English as a Second Language) classes for adults. I had taught ESL classes in South Carolina for eight years before moving to Rome, and I hoped that I could continue working with ESL students in my new town.

It turned out that ESL classes are held in the Rome-Floyd County Library and that the Language and Literacy Center is always in need of volunteers. I couldn’t have been happier. I had found exactly what I wanted.

Working with foreign students is a joy! Whether they come from South America, Latin America, Asia or Eastern Europe, they are all excited about being in America and are very interested in learning English.

They recognize that if they are to succeed in this country, they must know the language. Consequently, they come to class prepared, enthusiastic and actually asking for homework. Every new word or phrase learned in class one day can be used the next day outside of class, and this eases some of the stress the student feels in his new surroundings.

Anyone who has lived in a foreign country or visited one can imagine how difficult life can be when everything is new — the language, the money, the customs, the surroundings! Even simple things such as writing your address or your telephone number can be different in a foreign country.

The rewards that come from teaching ESL students are enormous. Not only do you receive the satisfaction of knowing that you are making a difference in the lives of the students but you also learn a lot about their countries, their cultures and their languages.

Another added benefit is that of seeing America through the eyes of the students. You are then reminded of how fortunate we are to live in a country that is full of possibilities.

Virginia Steinhauer

Making a difference in students’ lives

I decided to be a part of the ESL team because I have personally experienced what it feels like to be in the students’ situation. I have wanted to do this for a long time. When my family and I arrived in the USA 10 years ago, it was a very difficult stage in our lives. Thanks to some people who helped us in this process, we began our new life in Rome.

To most people, it is very hard to even try to understand what someone goes through. It’s even harder to understand how it is to go to another country with a completely different language, customs, etc.

Many say that if people are to come to this country, they should know the language. I can tell you it is very difficult to do so, especially if you have a full-time job and kids to take care of, as many newcomers do. I have known people, many of them my relatives, who have attended, or are still attending the ESL classes at the Language and Literacy Center. The differences that these classes have made in their lives are huge. If you look at it from outside the box, you will see how important ESL classes are.

Not only do the students learn but the instructors and volunteers learn as well. You see the instructors putting 100 percent into every lesson they teach. Students give their best. Even after a long day of work, the students are eager to learn English and improve their lives. Helping the students practice and learn new words is gratifying, which makes tutoring worth it.

I am currently a student at Georgia Highlands College, pursing a degree in business administration. Also I work full time. It is important for me to give back to my family and community.

Nora Guzman