Page 12-A?THE BRUNSWICK BEACON, Thursday. M
Literacy Progra
RY SUSAN USHER
It's been said that for every door that closes, anothei
opens. Opening new doors for adult learners is what th<
literacy program at Brunswick Community College is al
about.
According to Willie Fullwood, director of tht
college's special programs, the literacy program offers
adults the basic skills they need to qualify for a job or a
promotion, or to meet other personal goals. "Students
determine their own goals," said Willie Fullwood. "Wc
are there to help them reach those goals."
One 85-year-old man, for example, had never beer
able to sign his name, recounted Jesse Clemmon >. dear
of continuing education. The man enrolled, learned how
to make his signature and dropped out.
"That was his goal: he had succeeded," said Clemmons,
who grinned and added. "We're going to get him
back."
Clemmons is confident of thai because the basic
education program is designed to breed success, encouraging
students to erase [last learning experiences
and set new goals, including obtaining a high school
equivalency (GED) diploma or even a college degree.
For many students, earning a GED diploma is the
goal, and participation BCC's commencement exercise
their greatest moment. "It means so much to some of
them to finally say, 'I'm going to march down that aisle,"
said Vickie Hardee, assessment/retention specialist.
Clemmons added, "At graduation you can literally
feel the electricity in the air.
"It's even more of a thrill to step into a class and see
people learning to read and write and do basic math."
To help put students at their ease, classes are typically
held not at the college campus, but in the community,
in familiar settings such as a neighborhood center or
V.I1U1 Ul.
For beginning students who either are uncomfortable
in a classroom setting or desire greater privacy, the college
coordinates its efforts with the Brunswick County
Literacy Council.
Working from an office at the college, the council
provides free tutors to work one-on-one with adult new
readers. Tutoring can be in the privacy of the student's or
tutor's home, or sometimes in conjunction with one of the
college's basic education class.
Demand High
In the past six months, the college's basic education
and high school programs have taken "a real forward
jump," according to Clemmons.
As of mid-March 225 students were enrolled in
classes offered at 18 locations by approximately 30 instructors,
he told members of the college's board of
trustees last Wednesday night.
Classes will be offered as soon as possible in five additional
locations, in response to local demand. Said Earthly
Waters, one of two recruiters hired to promote the
program door-to-door throughout the county, "We can't
be everywhere at once."
High demand for community classes, she noted, indicates
"evidently this was something our county really
needed and wanted."
BCC has had a literacy program since its founding
its efforts limited by sixe and funding until recently. A
change in funding by the Department of Community Col
lege has allowed the college to hire former BCC Learning
Lab Assistant Vickie Hardee as assessment/retention
specialist and Ms. Waters and Edna Magers as
recruiters.
And a natinnwidp nnhlinitv Mmnaion r>i ttc
mj ?w><i|/uk5ii, & uuu, iiao increased
public awareness of the need for?and availability
of literacy programs.
The state funding reflects the evolution over the past
two years of literacy as a primary focus of the community
college system. In a 1986 keynote address speech,
Community Colleges President Bob Scott described
North Carolina as having the third most illiterate
workforce in the country, ranking only behind two states
in the lower South. He added that a lack of workers with
adequate reading, writing and math skills makes it difficult
for North Carolina to compete with other states for
industries that offer employment for skilled labor, including
those using new technologies such as computers
and robotics.
Closing Doors
Ixically. the demand for more highly-skilled workers
is also being seen. Fewer and fewer employers are hiring
Lots o
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RECRUITERS Edna Magcrs and Earthly Waters
(above) arc helping organize literacy classes "in parts
of the county you'd never Imagine," according to Dean
of Continuing Education Jesse Clemmons, from
persons without at least a high school diploma or its
equivalent.
"Over the last two years," said Ms. Hardee, "we
have seen more local industries and businesses begin requiring
a high school diploma?first CP&L, then others."
When an industry first announces such a requirement,
she said, classes fill up. Sometimes students are
under pressure to learn basic skills quickly. "They may
have to have it to be promoted or the company may be
l.u:? ? :.u r *1 m
iiuiuiiig d juu iui Litem.
One grocery, for instance, requires a high school
diploma. A worker without it will be hired as a cashier for
three months while going to school. If they don't succeed
in their educational program, they're laid off.
Students who once dropped out of high school and
entered the military are finding that door shut also. All
require at least a high school equivalency diploma combined
with AFSQT scores higher than those required of
high school graduates, while the Air Force insists on a
high school diploma.
Jesse Clemmons entered Shallotte High School with
111 ninth graders. In 1961,51 of them graduated; only two
went on to college. "Chances are high most of them are
right around here somewhere," he said.
Ms. Waters' graduated in 1964 from Brunswick County
Training School in Southport. Of the 117 students who
began ninth grade with her, 26 graduated.
Twenty years ago, a college degree or a high school
diploma wasn't viewed as necessary in a rural community
such as Brunswick County, where most people earned
a living fishing or farming.
But, said Fullwood, "We're living in a more
technologically functioning society. We're not making a
living they way our parents did."
Definitions of "illiterate" and "functional illiterate"
i reflect the rapid changes in the skills required by society.
^ Until only recently, "illiterate" was the term used to
describe someone who could not read and write at all.
! "Functional illiterate" described someone who had some
i basic skills, but not enough to cope with the demands of
i day-to-day living.
Not any more, according to Clemmons. Today's
citizen needs the equivalent of an eighth-grade education,
with a high school education the standard.
With its 1980 forms, the U.S. Census Bureau began
making fewer distinctions in educational accomplishments
less than a high school diploma. Either
respondents had 0-8 years of schooling, or did not complete
high school.
Students Varied
Students come from ail walks of life, with reasons as
varied as their ages and occupations.
Many have spent all or part of a lifetime "covering
up" their lack of reading or writing skills, in the process
developing keener-than-average listening and memory
skills. Clemmons said.
AnH oc nrv1 tv..n? <- -?- ??- ? ?
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often people who are intelligent, successful in other areas
of their lives, with much potential tor further achievement.
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Kingtown to Dark Branch. Their efforts are uncovering
a high demand for basic reading, writing and math
skills among the county's adult population.
"We have skilled people who know how to make a
whole boat, but know nothing about reading or math,"
she said, pointing to her head and adding, "It's all up
here, in their heads."
Literacy program staffers said most students are
older people, who didn't have an opportunity for an
education earlier in life. This group includes an increasing
number of couples.
"They've been so busy raising their families and
mqlrinti n livings that nntU nniu t hoy hay a nnt horj tha timo
to come back and help themselves," said Ms. Hardee.
Regardless of their age, most students who enroll,
said Ms. Magers, "either want a better job or find it's
(basic education) necessary for daily living."
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ViTicfi she enters s new community and finds mere
eople who want to learn basic skills, it offers food for
bought.
"It's all hidden," she noted. "You always ask
ourself, 'If there are this many here in this community,
ow many more are there out there?' "
ABE, GED Core Elements
Of BCC Literacy Effort
Brunswick County College channels its literacy ef
forts primarily through two types of classes: ABE and
GED. according to Willie Fullwood, director of special
programs. Both are open to adults at no cost
ABE or Adult Basic Education is aimed at students
age 16 and older who are functioning at or below the
eighth-grade level. Attending classes in their local
communities, students study reading, writing, consumer
education and community services, social
studies, basic science, math and health education.
Students who complete the ABE program are encouraged
to continue their studies in the GED or
General Educational Development program. Students
who complete the program and attain acceptable
scores on a state GED exam earn a high school
equivalency diploma. Studies include English, social
studies, science, reading and math.
A third program, ESL, English as a Second
Language, is offered on demand, and was offered for
the first time last summer, said Fullwood. It is designed
to teach English to adults who are literate in another
language. In this area, classes are typically needed in
the spring and summer, when migrant laborers are
working in the ares.
For more information on any literacy program offered
by the college, contact the Continuing Education
Department, 754-6900.
J
s. Lewis
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