AT&T Pioneers join hands with Rockwall County Adult Literacy Program

RFA - Jamie Rubush Carol Cease Marcine McCulley JT Virdell Charles Lee — (l-r) Jamie Rubush (ESL tutor), Carol Cease (Literacy Coordinator), Marcine McCulley (Library Director), J. T. Virdell (ESL Tutor & AT&T Pioneer), Charles Lee (AT&T Pioneer)

RFA - Level 1 class with ATT dictionaries — Tutors, Susan Bryson and Britten Echols, with ESL Level 1 Class holding dictionaries donated by AT&T Pioneers

ROCKWALL, TX (March 31, 2014) AT&T Pioneers, a volunteer organization made up of retired and active AT&T employees, and Reading For Adults (RFA), Rockwall County Library’s Adult Literacy Program led by Carol Cease, Director, recently met at the library for a special presentation.

The Pioneers gave over 300 Spanish/English and English Only dictionaries to students in the various classes including GED studies, English as a Second Language (ESL), Citizenship Preparation and Basic Literacy. In addition, ten headsets were donated to assist the students with their on-line language tutorial program.

RFA - Level 2 class with ATT dictionairies — Tutor, Darlene Perkins, with ESL Level 2 class with dictionaries donated by AT&T Pioneers

RFA - ATT Pioneers with dictionaries — The Pioneers (left to right) are Chuck Hays, Charles, Lee, Judy McCallum, Kay Carroll, Charlie Sorrels, J. T. Virdell, Judy McCallum with Literacy Director, Carol Cease.

For over 14 years, RFALiteracy program at Rockwall County Library has provided free educational services to adults, offering classes in ESL (English as a Second Language), Citizenship, GED preparation and Adult Literacy.

Supported by The Friends of the Rockwall County Library, the RFA classes are taught by local volunteer tutors, who give hundreds of hours of instruction each year, offering morning and evening classes weekly.

The tutors, with varied business, educational, financial and technical backgrounds, follow the curriculum material selected and approved by the Literacy Program.

RFA - ATT Pioneers — (l-r) Chuck Hays, Charlie Sorrels, J. T. Virdell, Judy McCallum, Carol Cease, Charles Lee, Kay Carroll (Pioneer Partner) and Bob Carroll.

Cease, who has been director of the program for the past year and formerly tutored students for eight years, said that over 600 students representing 47 different countries have been involved in the program in the past fiscal year.

RFA - Level 4 class with ATT dictionaries — Tutors, Jerry Rubush and Jamie Rubush, with ESL Level 4 class with dictionaries donated by AT&T Pioneers

Enrollment for adult students has been consistently at capacity and the RFA Program has outgrown its facilities at the library. To accommodate the current number of adult students, First United Methodist Church of Rockwall, across the street from the library, has opened its doors for additional classroom space free of charge. The Adult Literacy Program and AT&T Pioneers were introduced to one another through the efforts of J. T. Virdell, a volunteer tutor and AT&T Pioneer.

For more information about, how to make a donation or become a tutor, please contact Reading For Adults at 972-204-7705.

Submitted by Jamie Rubush, RFA.

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AT&T Pioneers, dictionaries, ESL, rockwall reading for adults