From Vancouver Island...

I have been the regional literacy coordinator for the Malaspina/North Island region since October 1995. It has been an exciting and rewarding experience and I look forward to the new challenges and work I will encounter next year.

One of my roles is to provide professional development opportunities for people in the region. On May 9 we held a workshop for literacy practitioners and tutors at Malaspina University College in Nanaimo. The topics included: success and motivation; teaching writing and reading, and confidentiality.

I also organize meetings for volunteer tutor coordinators in the region. Coordinators from the region met this year in Parksville to share information about their work and about literacy issues and concerns in their communities. These meetings will continue at least two or three times a year.

Providing support and consultation to individuals who are starting up new tutoring programs is another important aspect of regional coordination. We hope to see a volunteer tutoring program up and running in Port Hardy and in Ladysmith/Chemainus very soon.

It has been wonderful providing mentorship to learner Ingrid Braathen. Ingrid is a board member of Literacy B.C. and co-author of the book, Walk for Literacy.. A Step in the Right Direction. Ingrid and I meet weekly to work on developing networking skills using the Internet and the B.C. literacy electronic network.

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