Norma Lesperance Receives Lois Land Award of Achievement

Sioux Hudson Literacy Council (SHLC) and Good Learning Anywhere (GLA) are proud to announce the 2011 recipient of the Lois Land Award of Achievement.  Congratulations Norma Lesperance of Nipigon, Ontario!

When we are working at a distance with our learners, many outsiders have a hard time understanding what we do at Good Learning Anywhere.  How are we helping learners achieve their goals?  And truthfully, we sometimes wonder what sorts of impacts we are having on learners too.  The results are not always quantifiable and recorded in statistics.  It’s part of the challenge when working at a distance.

However, I would like to introduce you to Norma.   I got to know Norma over a period of almost 4 months.  Norma is a tremendously hard worker.  Norma clearly had her goals in sight and worked very hard at figuring out what she needed to do to reach her goal.  We commend Norma on her focus and we know that Norma will continue to apply what she learned from the Good Learning Anywhere and ENABLE programs.   Here is a short video about the ENABLE program that was produced by Thunderstone Pictures.

When I told Norma that we selected her for this award, she was very excited.  I asked if we could share her success story by means of answering a few questions.  She declined that and decided she would like to reply in a paragraph format.  This is her journey.

---

 I first heard about this program through an “ENABLE” project that was offered to a handful of adult learners at Lake Helen Reserve. The on-line course was one part of many that we were required to participate in. As an adult learner these on-line courses made me less afraid of the computer. By this I mean, that I took a college course on-line a few years ago and I can honestly say that I was not prepared to do certain tasks with the computer. I didn’t understand networks, modems, e-mails, attachments; nothing. But now thanks to these courses and the jobs that followed; I am more confident in my computer skills.

When I was in high school the first time around, (in the late seventies, early eighties) I was a shy, gawky teenager, you wouldn’t catch me reading out loud, public speaking, or even standing up in front of a room full of my classmates. The computer had given me the ability to “speak up,” to “express my opinion,” to “participate,” without the fear of being laughed at, ridiculed, or rejected.

 Like I’ve stated before, I’ve become more confident in my computer skills and this meant more job opportunities were becoming available to me. Since I have graduated in October of last year, I have gained employment as a relief secretary, an after-school tutor, then onto the Band Manager’s Assistant for the Red Rock Indian Band. I’m very proud of all my accomplishments and I plan to celebrate my achievements at our Annual Graduation Dinner on June 20^th.

The only advice I can offer others is, “Just do it!”

 If I had one word or sentence to describe my experience with GLA/ENABLE, it would have to say: “AWESOME, TOTALLY AWESOME!”

Norma

---

Norma earned her Grade 12 diploma with the help of the ENABLE and Good Learning Anywhere programs.  As a matter of fact, she is having a graduation celebration today at Lake Helen Reserve 53A.  She is also going to take the skills that made her successful and continue to apply them throughout her lifelong learning journey.  Norma has told us that she wants to continue her learning and eventually become a school teacher.

Norma…we can’t wait for that day and who knows, maybe you’ll be teaching online too!

On behalf of Sioux Hudson Literacy Council (SHLC) and Good Learning Anywhere (GLA), we congratulate Norma on her achievements and sincerely hope all her dreams come true.

To learn more about the ENABLE program with Anishinabek Employment and Training Services, please visit their website: www.aets.org.  To learn more about SHLC and GLA, please visit us at www.siouxhudsonliteracy.com or call us at 866-550-0697.

Tough Times for Adult Literacy in Ontario

The Adult Literacy world is facing some tough times in 2011.

Cutbacks are expected to hit all of Ontario’s Literacy and Basic Skills organizations, though the effects will be felt throughout Ontario, in workplaces, social services and homes.

Good Learning Anywhere started in 2003, reaching people in remote areas of Ontario, and giving them a chance to upgrade their skills.

2009 was a big year for Good Learning Anywhere.  The Province’s Budget Initiative for 2009-10, 2010 -11 gave our program the opportunity to grow and reach so many more people in need of basic upgrading and literacy skills.  Many Ontarians living in remote and rural areas have had the ability to access services previously not available to them – and now may be denied these services again.

Now, with that two year funding about to disappear, Good Learning Anywhere, along with Literacy groups across Ontario, will be forced to cut back services, and in some instances, shut their doors.

But all is not lost.

You can help.

As a Canadian citizen and a taxpayer, you have a voice.

By sending a letter to your MPP, you will add your voice to those learners and literacy practitioners who know the value of adult education and training.

If you would like to send a letter to your MPP, please fill out this form below and we will help you send it out!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Phone Number

Comment

Lois Land Award for Acheivement

Courtesy Sioux Bulletin

Learner Article: The Lifelong Learner – Gail Taylor

When my husband died twelve years ago, my first instinct was to move back to my husband’s reserve and pull that protective quilt of extended family over that huge hole of hurt.  To compound matters, in the year prior to his death, I had been diagnosed with proliferative diabetic retinopathy with the prognosis of potential blindness.  If I moved home to the village, there would always be someone to look after me. My response…I applied for a job at a Native Adult Learning Centre.

The job was a short term contract position that involved compiling learning material.  When I was asked during my interview about my computer skills, I laughed nervously and answered that I knew how to turn one on.  There I was, the person who was never going to have anything to do with a computer, faced with learning something entirely new when I was not only a “techno-cluck”, but a techno-cluck with diminishing eye sight.  Hardly what one might call a appropriate path to success, but I got the job.

Just as my contract was reaching its end, the position of coordinator became available and I was asked to apply for that position.  Looking back now, I cannot explain why I made the decision to give it a try.  Perhaps I felt I had nothing to lose.  In any event, I spent the next six years working in an adult learning centre in the Native stream.  That frustrating man that I was sure existed inside the computer and I learned to become more compatible.  In order to increase our numbers, I learned new computer skills so I could in turn teach others.

Even when my eye sight deteriorated, the computer screen could always be enlarged to accommodate my disability.  The laser photocoagulation surgery that I underwent has left me with blind spots in my peripheral vision which means that I cannot see looking down at the computer screen, so I changed my teaching strategies to sit beside my learners when I am teaching.  This has proven to be an amazing asset since learners seem more apt to relax when they do not have someone standing over them.

In that year after I retired and moved to another area, I found myself at loose ends.  When I teach I am also on the receiving end of the learning cycle, so I returned first to teaching computers in the evenings and then to my present position with Quinte Literacy Group (an adult learning centre) out of Madoc. Teaching constantly pushes me to learn new things and explore new ways of imparting that knowledge to others.

New doors have once again opened and I have discovered that I can use the computer for art, and two years ago, I learned that I can draw.  Although I have difficulty with my depth perception, I can work well in pencil.

What is the bottom line?  You never know what you can do until you try.

Lillian Ruttan – Learner of the Month November

“I jumped in full-force.”

That is how Lillian summarized the beginnings of her journey.

 

I think that pretty much sums up who Lillian Ruttan is when she’s in an online class. Full-force, full-energy, full of life.

And that is one of the reasons why she is Learner of the Month for November 2010.

To call Lillian an ambassador for Good Learning Anywhere is fitting for a few reasons:

1. Lillian is always “there”: she’s always participating, always ready to learn.
2. Lillian is a facilitator: she will troubleshoot with learners and help instructors, in and outside of class.
3. Lillian spreads the word: from Lillian’s enthusiasm and community spirit, we’ve gained more than a few new learners from her neck of the woods and across Ontario.

Just this past fall, I met Lillian when I visited the lovely ladies of the Adult Learning Line in Kenora.  Before meeting her, I felt I already knew her, as she had attended more than a few of my classes: I knew her as a warm, gentle and kind person, a woman who is strong in her faith and who is enthusiastic about learning.  And, that is exactly who she is.  But as it is with most online interactions, what I thought I knew about Lillian was only the tip of the iceberg.

What really shone through for me was Lillian’s sense of humour and her passion for helping others.  As I was busy attempting to set up the iMac to take some group photos, I overheard Lillian telling other learners how our online sessions are all recorded and was showing them how to access the classes within a Centra account.

 

Lillian’s journey to Good Learning Anywhere began over a year ago.  I had the joy of instructing Lillian in her first class, Introduction to Online Learning.  From that day on, Lillian discovered a passion for computers.  In fact, working with computers, understanding how they work, and learning how to fix them is part of Lillian’s goal for the future.  Computer know-how is an important skill to have today, and with the skills she’s gained in the online classroom, Lillian is well on her way.

Lillian’s success boils down to a few things in her life: the Adult Learning Line and Good Learning Anywhere.  She said she was introduced to upgrading and learning by Lynn Kowal, one of the wonderful practitioners of the Adult Learning Line.  It was Lynn who inspired her to take that big leap to becoming an adult learner.  And though Lillian had made the step towards improving her skills twice before, she told me it was the Adult Learning Line and the availability of the Good Learning Anywhere program that really “made it stick”.

 

So Lillian, I thank you for your spirit, your generosity, your committment to learning, and for “jumping in full-force”.

 

It is a pleasure and honour to know you and name you Learner of the Month for November!