News and

Views www.nald.ca/thelearningexchange

Issue 32 Editor/Layout Designer

May/June 2006 Darlene Brown

HOW TO CONTACT US

Darlene Brown The Learning Exchange Celebration Event 2006

Executive Director

Karen Mockler JOIN US ON WEDNESDAY MAY 10TH

Administrative Assistant

Jacklyn Freedman-Spector
Communications Director
Come help us celebrate our students’ achievements
3200 Souvenir Blvd. room D-110 and our volunteers’ committment to literacy!!
Chomedey Laval, Quebec.
H7V 1W9 Social Committee

Phone: 450-688-2933 ext. 3126 Place: La Sirène, 480 Boul. St-Martin Ouest
Fax: 450-688-8125 Time: 6:00 p.m.
E-mail: tle_literacy@yahoo.ca What: Dinner celebration (includes soup, salad, dessert and coffee)
Web site: www.nald.ca/thelearningexchange Cost: $15 per person (meal/tax/tip included)
Excellence in Literacy All TLE partners, students, volunteers, tutors, family and friends
are invited to join us for our Annual Celebration Event!!

* Please note the $15 MUST be paid in advance by the May 5th deadline to reserve your spot!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE:

President’s Message 2 Summer is Almost Here!!

From the E.D.’s Desk 2 Darlene Brown
Executive Director
Karen’s Korner 2
Tutor Training Continues 3 We are asking students in the summer for tutori-
Thank You Volunteers! 3 and volunteers to kindly als because we are TLE Literacy
return all books and re- changing rooms over the
Welcome to TLE! 3 sources (except for work- summer for the fall. We
Sponsors:
Book Sales 3 books) before June 15th encourage anyone inter-
• MERCK FROSST EMPLOYEES’ CHARITY
Book Club News 3 unless you’re planning to ested in continuing over
TRUST FUND
meet with your student/ the holidays to meet at
News from NALD 4
tutor during the summer. the local library. • LAVAL ROTARY CLUB
Literacy Links 4 This year, TLE will be Please inform Karen if • CANADA POST
Gift of Reading 4 closing for the summer on you plan to be tutoring
June 15th and TLE will not over the summer holi- • DOMTAR
May Calendar 5
be accessible to members days. Thanks!
June Calendar 6
 TLE Board of
President’s Message
Donna Adrian • Donna Adrian President
President
• Mona Arsenault Past President

On Valentine’s Day, my Achilles tendon tore, and • Beverly Beauchamp Vice-President

I fell down several stairs in the Metro. I was
• Beth Green Secretary
fortunate to have some very caring people who
helped me, called the ambulance, and looked af- • Christiane Dabbagh Treasurer
ter me in the hospital. I spent eight weeks in
bed, and last week, when the doctor changed my • Stephen Shore Director

heavy plaster cast for a lighter weight fibreglass-walking cast, I was

thrilled, I would be able to do things again – help prepare meals, go
outside, live my life again, But, when the doctor told me to stand, I TLE Staff:
was terrified. My good leg hadn’t been used in eight weeks, the mus- • Darlene Brown Executive Director
cles were weak, and the pain in my leg was dreadful. I began to think
• Karen Mockler Administrative
about the challenges that lay ahead, the fear of the unknown, the ef- Assistant
fort that physiotherapy would require, and my self-confidence faded.
• Jacklyn Freed- Communications
As I write this, I have been walking with a cast and using a walker for man-Spector Director
one week. I am facing at least two months of physiotherapy, and a • Diane Richard Financial Officer
year wearing a brace before I will walk again with ease.

As I think about the challenges I have to face, I think about the

challenges that our students have faced – in admitting their difficulty
Karen’s Korner
to read and write, in seeking help, and in facing their fears. My chal-
lenges are nothing, compared to theirs, and I am in awe of their
strength of character. I am also proud of our caring volunteers, who,
weekly, challenge themselves to prepare interesting lessons, which
encourage their students to succeed.

From the Executive Director’s Desk Karen Mockler

Administrative Assistant
Darlene Brown
Executive Director Thank you to everyone for
I was fortunate to have been one of the sev- making this another great
enty-one participants attending LIfIA’s Third year for me at The Learning
PanAmerican ePortfolio Forum in Vancou- Exchange. A reminder to our
ver, back in April. There were speakers and Volunteers to hand in their
presenters from all around the world, including most parts of North volunteer hour worksheets.
America, Mexico, The Netherlands, Australia, The UK, and Venezuela. Also let’s not forget our Cele-
I had the opportunity to learn about e-portfolios and their use in bration Evening on May 10th at
many educational and business environments, as well as to make inter- La Sirène on St. Martin Boule-
esting new contacts with colleagues from other parts of the world. It vard. I hope you all have a
was truly a one-of-a-kind working forum for all involved! great summer and look for-
ward to seeing you again in
I’d also like to say thanks to Nancy at Literacy BC for taking me on a
September!
tour of their large office space in downtown Vancouver!
Page 2
NEWS AND VI EWS
 ISSUE 32
Page 3
Tutor Training Continues at The Learning Exchange
Alan J. Powell
Volunteer
Over the past three months an enthusiastic group of new and recycled trainee tu-
tors has been together for five sessions with Darlene Brown and Jacklyn Freed-
man-Spector to absorb the benefits of their years of experience in literacy
training. The sessions ranged from literacy statistics, reading, writing and learn-
ing styles to video illustrations of the difficulties faced by learning disabled stu-
dents. It was easy to relate to some of these difficulties after three months of
tutoring to secondary I to III adult education students in Jackie’s math classes. The students in
these classes seem to be making good progress, after some initial reluctance to “hit the books.”
The final session of the tutor training, reviewed the learning styles discussed in the first four ses-
sions, together with some new graphics materials for assembling topics in essays of different types.
The last hour of the course was spent in the computer lab, familiarizing the class with a website de-
voted to literacy and associated topics. The class was presented with graduation certificates and an
ode to volunteers written by Jackie to celebrate the course completion. Our thanks are due to Dar-
lene and Jackie for the extra load that they carry in this leadership role in TLE.

Thank you Volunteers! Welcome to TLE

Darlene Brown Darlene Brown
Executive Director Executive Director
I’d like to wel-
TLE Volunteers come our latest
are “BEARY” group of gradu-
special!! ating volunteer
tutors to The
Special “Thanks” was sent out to all of our vol- Learning Ex-
unteers, in the form of a little stuffed bear change family!
and hand-stamped note, in recognition of our Congratulations!
volunteers during Volunteer Appreciation New volunteers: from left to right:
Week in April. We couldn’t do it without you!! Back: Josée, Alan, Sonya, , Anthoula, Rigoula
Front: Nancy, Mary, Cynthia, Efterpi

Small to large boxes are needed for June packing. Please contact Karen if you can get boxes
for us. We need good, solid boxes with lids or ones we can close. Boxes should not be too big!!

Book Sales Book Club News

Beverly Beauvais Beverly Beauvais
Volunteer Volunteer
Our May book sale will take place on Wednes-
day, May 3rd 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. near the The Reading Circle will meet on
cafeteria. Tuesday, May 2nd at 7:30 p.m.
Our last sale for the year will be Tuesday, in room D103 to discuss Miriam
June 6th. At this sale our hardcover books will Toews' SWING LOW. Our ani-
be priced at $0.50 each as a special year-end mator will be Davy-Belle McMorran. Our final
bonus!! Come by and see our varied titles. meeting for this year will be Tuesday, June 6th.
Thank you to all those who have donated books Our discussion leader will be Carol Ann Colling-
and to those who have stopped by to purchase wood and our book selection is ICY SPARKS by
books this year. Happy Summer reading!! Gwyn Hyman Rubio.
NEWS AND VIEWS
We’re on the web!
www.nald.ca/thelearningexchange
Time to Pack!!
Packing Volunteers
Wanted
TLE will be changing rooms for the fall.
This means we need to pack in June!
We are asking for volunteers, students,
family or friends to help pack room D110
on the following dates: June 16, 19, 20.
Call Karen if you are interested to help out!
Literacy Links is Here!!
Check this out:
www.recitfga.qc.ca/english/activities/
sitsat-2006/Darlene-Borwn
Give the Gift of Reading
Yes! I want to help support TLE’s literacy efforts. I’m enclosing my donation of:
$10 $15 $20 $25
Name & address of donor:
Name & address for gift/donation notice:
Please return this reply card along with your donation to The Learning Exchange.
TLE’s charitable number is 89335 1767 RR 0001. Make cheque payable to The Learning Exchange.
*Please indicate with a checkmark which name and address for the receipt.
News from NALD
National Adult Literacy Database NALD
Through the World Wide Web, the National Adult
Literacy Database (NALD) provides high quality,
comprehensive resources for literacy, numeracy
and workplace essential skills training to learners
and those who teach them. NALD’s online resources
are available to anyone, at no cost, in both French and English.
NALD is establishing a Document Conversion Lab to expand its
very modest capacity to convert materials and post them to the
web. The Lab will feature 12 workstations where staff can digitize
material, convert it to HTML and PDF, and post it to the Internet
in a manner that meets international standards. It will give more
developers of materials a means to get their work to the people
who need it.
Last year, there were more than 2.8 million downloads of docu-
ments in PDF format from the NALD site, by more than 5.9 million
users and 22 million pages were viewed in HTML format. NALD’s
partners can play many roles in launching the Document Conversion
Lab, by providing equipment, facilities and other in-kind support,
as well as by providing financial support.
To contact NALD : 1-800-720-6253
Email : contactnald@nald.ca
Website : www.nald.ca
Other $ ———
*Receipt
Excellence in Literacy 2005/2006
Campaign
*Receipt
If you would like to make a gift of literacy
in someone’s name or memory please
include his/her name and address with this
reply card and we will send them a
gift/donation notice.