Skagit Literacy

Assembled in the Skagit County Commissioner's Hearing Room, over fifty community leaders and learners struggled to hold back tears as one of Skagit Literacy's GED students, Porfiria Mendiola, read her moving story. She began by describing how a stressful childhood left little time or energy for school. Although she faced difficult domestic and relational situations, her story closed with a beautiful account of a transformed family and a renewed freedom to pursue education. After a few other emotional readings and comments by students, teachers and even State Senator Kevin Ranker, the Skagit County Commissioners proclaimed October 19th - 24th as Adult Literacy Week. The special recognition of this week has been a statewide effort for the past 5 years.

As part of the Adult Literacy Week event, Skagit Literacy and Skagit Valley College published a booklet containing 106 essays written by students enrolled in English language classes at the college and through Skagit Literacy. Those essays were judged and three winners received $100 awards and read their essays to the gathered assembly in the County Commissioner’s Hearing Room.

The students whose essays were awarded this years prizes are Porfiria Mendiola, Dolores Garcia and Benita Jaramillo, pictured above receiving their award certificates from State Senator Kevin Ranker and Skagit County Commissioners Ken Dahltstedt, Ron Wesen and Sharon Dillon.

After the students read their essays, a warm celebration full of engaging conversation and creative hors d'ourves followed with Senator Ranker presenting the students certificates, shaking hands and chatting between camera flashes.

The State Board for Community and Technical Colleges states that with "more than 1 million adults in Washington State lack[ing] the basic education skills they need to succeed in an increasingly complicated world" the need for adult literacy is quite evident. For the last ten years Skagit Literacy, a part of Skagit County Community Action Agency, has been working towards this goal of increased literacy with diverse programs ranging from GED (general education diploma) to classes for English language learners. If you feel passionate about this effort and would be interested in volunteering or supporting Skagit Literacy, contact Rachel Mehl, the Volunteer Literacy Program Coordinator at (360) 416-7585 or rachelm@skagitcap.org. She offers a volunteer information session on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 6pm.

For more information on adult literacy visit the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges website.