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Edison State Community College
Edison students
promote literacy at Greenville library
By Tony Baker, The Daily Advocate
GREENVILLE — Edison State Community College students delivered a
presentation on the impact of illiteracy in America at the Greenville
Public Library Thursday night.
The students led with sobering statistics, reporting that 34 million
Americans are illiterate, defined as reading below a sixth-grade level,
and that the U.S. is currently ranked 16th among developed nations for
literacy. They further noted that 70 percent of inmates in U.S. prisons
are unable to read past a fourth-grade level, and that two-thirds of
those unable to read at grade level by the fourth grade will likely
serve time in prison. The students also added that, as low-paying jobs
are gradually eliminated through automation, it will only become more
difficult for those without a high school or college education to
support themselves and their families as time goes on.
The presenters cited a number of reasons for the nation’s current
problem with illiteracy, from the prevalence of single-parent homes –
where solo caregivers may be too busy or otherwise overwhelmed to keep
an adequate eye on their children’s academic progress – to the fact
that modern parents simply don’t read to their young children as often
as they used to. Federal education initiatives such as No Child Left
Behind were also discussed.
Fortunately, according to the presenters, there are programs in place
in Darke County and elsewhere to help combat illiteracy, including
summer reading programs sponsored by the library, Darke County chapters
of Big Brothers/Big Sisters and We Are the Majority and Empowering
Darke County Youth, a nonprofit created to provide tutoring and support
programs for local young people.
The most important battles in the war against illiteracy, however, are
waged in the home.
“We’ve all heard the saying, ‘It takes a village,’” said Amanda
Shiflet, a nursing major at Edison, quoting an oft-referenced proverb
about education and child-rearing commonly believed to be of African
origin. Shiflet and her classmates cautioned parents to be on the
lookout for signs that a child may be having difficulty developing
appropriate reading skills, such as a small vocabulary or even the
inability to recognize letters of the alphabet, and praised the
effectiveness of Individualized Education Plans, which provide parents
the opportunity to meet with teachers and guidance counselors, help set
educational goals for their children to work to achieve, and generally
take a more active role in their kids’ education.
Shiflet and her fellow presenters, meanwhile, were in the process of
furthering their own education, as they took part in the public
presentation in order to fulfill a community service requirement for
their public speaking class. The instructor of that class was Bob
Robinson, adjunct instructor at Edison.
“I love working with these kids,” Robinson said. “I love watching the
improvement. Eight weeks ago a presentation like this could never have
happened.”
Robinson, like his students, went on to stress the importance of
education, and of encouraging students to get involved in the community.
“This is one of the most important classes these students will take,”
Robinson said. “Because it teaches them how to function, in their
workplace as well as in their private lives.”
Reprinted courtesy of The Daily Advocate
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