ANDERSON — Ginger Mills says she tells adults who want to learn to read to look for the yellow canopy.
That marks the spot at 200 E. 11th St., where about 50 people are learning to read or improving their literacy skills. More than 60 volunteers donate time weekly to help, including tutoring for people who do not speak English as their first language.
“Anybody who comes in here, we will find a way to provide them with assistance with reading,” said Mills, executive director of the Madison County Literacy Coalition, which has helped hundreds of people from children to seniors since its founding in 1984.
But Mills acknowledge that help isn’t always easy to ask for among people who lack an ability that most people take for granted.
“I think probably every person (who lacks literacy skills) has at least one confidant — one person who can help them read mail or whatever,” Mills said. “Maybe a spouse knows, but for the most part, it’s their secret. They carry that with them.”
That’s a situation Ed Castor of Windfall can relate to.
“I just was struggling with the written word and keeping it to myself in the workplace,” Castor said. As a Delco Remy employee some 30 years ago, Castor read at about a third-grade level when he turned to the Literacy Coalition for help.
Castor, who’s now retired, got his GED, went on to take courses at Anderson University and became an evangelist for literacy. “I helped the UAW and GM put together adult literacy programs in the workplace across the U.S. to help people get the skills they needed,” he said.
Castor also became one of President George H.W. Bush’s 1,000 Points of Light for his volunteer efforts and advocacy.
At the same time, he’s an exception among adult learners, many of whom feel stigmatized and are reluctant to talk openly about learning to read at an advanced age.
“They have to come forward and they have to let someone know and find a program that can help them,” Castor said. “It’s confidential, private, it’s between you and the program and no one else has to know about it.
“We all have downfalls in our life, certain things we can’t do that others can do and things we can do others can’t,” Castor said. “I don’t think there’s that many people out there that don’t want to know how to read and write, it’s just finding that right door to walk through.”
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Call for help, or call to help
For more information about the Madison County Literacy Coalition, or to volunteer or donate to the nonprofit organization, call 641-0117.
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Literacy: Stigma a hurdle for adults
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Academic Accolades: May 27
A compilation of academic news as published in the Sunday edition of The Herald Bulletin.
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Indiana Christian Academy students look ahead to summer
Tantalizing Florida vacations filled with sun, sand, sea and Disney shimmered like diamonds strewn across a distant shore for several kids awaiting pickup on the last day of classes at Indiana Christian Academy Thursday.
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AHS rewarding well-behaved students
Anderson High School is holding its Student Appreciation Program (SAP) Friday for students who meet or surpass several requirements.
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AHS will hold student appreciation day
Anderson High School is holding its Student Appreciation Program Friday for students who meet or surpass several requirements.
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Anderson High School choir to sing with Foreigner
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Haffner becomes 44th winner of Red Haven Award
Pendleton Heights now has both the old and the new Red Haven Award trophy for its case at school.
When PH’s Ellie McCardwell won the award in 2010, the long-standing trophy was retired, and because the Arabians had the last winner, the school was able to permanently house that hardware.
On Tuesday, when the Anderson Noon Exchange Club presented the 2012 winner, it went to Pendleton Heights’ Abbie Haffner. So for the next 12 months, PH will be home to both the new traveling trophy, first presented a year ago to Lapel’s Leigh Steele, and the old one. -
Anderson Learning Academy withdraws charter application
When Anderson Learning Academy’s board first started seeking charter status, it was to help make changes in education as graduation rates and ISTEP scores were low in the public school system.
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Haffner, McFerran get Dickmann Awards
Alexandria-Monroe High School senior Michael McFerran and Pendleton Heights senior Abbie Haffner received the annual Dickmann Youth Community Service Awards on Tuesday during the Anderson Rotary Club’s weekly luncheon at Anderson Country Club.
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Historic Preservation Commission turns down school board
Arguments were made over historical significance, sentimental value, structural stability, safety and finances during a Historic Preservation Commission meeting Monday evening discussing whether to grant South Madison Community Schools board’s proposal to demolish the former middle school at 301 S. East St.
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Academic Accolades: May 27
