Improving Literacy in Bergen County

On Friday, May 4, fellow Rotarian Scott Reddin, Past President of the Englewood Rotary Club and Executive Director of Project Literacy of Bergen County paid a visit to The Courtyard to discuss the work being done to promote literacy in our region.

For the past 25 years, Project Literacy has provided opportunities for adults struggling with reading, writing, math and the English language. The need is huge since it is estimated that over 30,000,000 Americans are functionally illiterate. In New Jersey alone nearly 3,000,000 adults have literacy problems. Even in affluent Bergen County, 26% of adults under 25 do not have a high school diploma.

Project Literacy seeks to address these needs by recruiting and training volunteers to work one-to-one with adults who need literacy help. The tutoring sessions are provided free of charge at a time and public place mutually agreeable to the tutor and student.

All volunteers are given 12 hours of formal training in either Basic Literacy or ESL at the Ciarco Learning Center of Bergen Community College offices in Hackensack.

To learn more visit http://www.project-literacy.org/index.html or http://www.bergen.edu/pages1/pages/601.aspx