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Literacy and Illiteracy in the North Country
Heuvelton Central School first-grader with a reading
Over 20 percent of adults in America have the lowest level
of literacy skills measured by the U.S. Department of Education.
Practically speaking, they cant read and write well
enough to fill out a simple job application or get a drivers
license.The numbers in the North Country mirror those of the
nation as a whole. What are the costs of illiteracy, for individuals,
and the larger community? Why do so many of us struggle with
illiteracy? And what can be done? In this special series,
North Country Public Radio examines what literacy is, how
its achieved, why it isnt, and the impact illiteracy
has on our region and people.
1: How Does the Brain Learn and Use Language?
look at the latest research into what literacy is. How do
people learn to read? Why is it easy for some, but not or
others? How does the brain learn and use language? Brian Mann
up of the display cases at Clifton-Fine.
Superintendent Gail Gotham fills half the brass display cases
in her school with books to motivate reading.
People: Carol Nuebert, Reading Specialist,
Foley talks with Carol Neubert, assistant superintendent and
reading specialist at Canton Central School.
Pt. 2: Teaching Reading: Phonics vs. Whole Language
at the two dominant methods of teaching readingphonics
and whole languagehow they work, and how they don't.
Brian Mann reports.
The 25 Books Campaign: Reading Immersion at Clifton-Fine,
small St. Lawrence County school does its part to improve
literacy and motivate readers. Students at Clifton-Fine are
given books as rewards for reading. Todd Moe reports.
People: Gail Gotham, School District Superintendent, 1/14/02
Foley talks by phone with Clifton-Fine Superintendent Gail
First Graders to Read in Heuvelton,
Moe profiles a first grade class in Heuvelton, just on the
verge of literacy, where a combination of phonics and whole-language
is used to motivate kids to read, and the divide between fast
learners and problem readers begins.
Above: A display board shows how some words are coded to help
students understand vowel sounds and consonants.
Top left: Teacher Ann Bush works with her first graders on
a reading worksheet.
left: Students are encouraged to choose books and read on
Learning to Read Late in Life, 1/16/02
out of the illiteracy closet. David Sommerstein profiles two
people who have learned to read late in life with the help
of Literacy Volunteers in Jefferson and Lewis counties.
Volunteers in your community:
Falls: Leslie Eagle, (518)793-7414
County: Donna Hunter, (518)725-1440
County: Norma Menard, (518)564-5332
County: Sue Hensley, (518)583-1232
& Lewis Counties: Cecilia Brock, (315)782-4270
Volunteers of America
Betsy Kepes: Cracking the Code for Reading, 1/16/02
part of our literacy series, commentator Betsy Kepes tells
us about her youngest son just learning to read, being a literacy
volunteer and being functionally illiterate while living in
Photos at left:
Joe McConnell, Adams, got his GED after six years studying
with Literacy Volunteers.
Joe with Tammy Marie Delong, Carthage, and Cecilia Brock,
director of the Jefferson and Lewis Counties Literacy Volunteers.
holds her study book for the New York State Driver's Test.
Even Start Program Helps Franklin County Families Learn to
Traditional research says that a child's ability to succeed
in school is strongly related to his or her parent's—and
especially mother's—level of education. If a mother
learns to read or gets her GED, the idea goes, she's better
prepared to read to her children, teach them the skills they'll
need when they get to school. But further research says the
situation may be more complicated. David Sommerstein explores
the field of family literacy with a profile of the federal
funded Even Start program in Franklin County.
Even Start programs in the North Country:
- Franklin County: Joe Campbell, (518)4830290
- St. Lawrence County: Faye Bartley, (315)379-9201 x164
- Clinton & Essex Counties: Jeanette Mitchell, (518)942-3077
- Herkimer County: (315)867-2079
- There is currently no Even Start program in Jefferson
or Lewis Counties.
Gehostlaw plays with her son Dawson.
Let the Dogs Out!"
The Gehostlaw family.
Home educator Jill Vaughan works with the Gothlaw kids while
she talks with mother Amy.
Jill Vaughan, home literacy educator, 1/17/02
Sommerstein talks with Jill Vaughan, the home educator with
Even Start in Franklin County, about how poverty and class
issues figure into literacy and school success.
Confessions of a Library "Criminal", 1/17/02
Mann's commentary on his love of reading and booksand
a love-hate relationship with libraries.
Job Skills: Math, Science and Computer Literacy,
is the ability to read and write at a certain level of proficiency.
But, increasingly it has become common to attach the word
to the subjects of math, science and even computers. As our
series on literacy in the North Country concludes today, we
look at how employers are coping with the increasing demands
for a more technologically skilled workforce and how the gap
in skills affects the northern New York economy. Jody Tosti
has our story.
Clinton County Literacy Volunteers (518) 564-5332
One-Stop Career Center, St. Lawrence County (315) 386-3276
Mike CoffeyOn Poetry and Language,
literacy series continues as poet Michael Coffey reads his
poem "Marie" and talks about language. Brian Mann reports.
reading of the poem Marie
support for this series, Literacy and Illiteracy in the North Country, was provided by the Sheard Literacy Center
at the SUNY
Potsdam School of Education