Kathy Hirth, a 62-year-old retiree, sits waiting in the
library’s Kids Room for her student, a 42-year-old woman.
For about four months, Hirth, a volunteer tutor for the Adult
Literacy Program of San Benito County, has offered her time and
beaming enthusiasm to the program that began in 2000.
Kathy Hirth, a 62-year-old retiree, sits waiting in the library’s Kids Room for her student, a 42-year-old woman.
For about four months, Hirth, a volunteer tutor for the Adult Literacy Program of San Benito County, has offered her time and beaming enthusiasm to the program that began in 2000.
Walking through the door with a smile, Bertha Olbera, Hirth’s first and only client and an English learner from Hollister, hugs Hirth.
They sit, and Hirth gives instructions slowly. She enunciates clearly. The Spanish-speaking Olbera, who moved to the United States 18 years ago, responds with a slow-paced caution.
The week before, Hirth had assigned Olbera to read job advertisements from a newspaper.
“I saw something about a swimming teacher,” Olbera says, struggling with her pronunciation. “It was interesting because they were next to the ocean.”
They move on and read together from an assignment book. The subject is the automobile revolution.
After Olbera finishes, Hirth responds, “I like the way you put pauses after the commas.”
As the lesson continues, she listens intently as Olbera reads her answers, and Hirth corrects mistakes when appropriate.
“Could you back up and read that third word?” she says.
Since November, when the two began their “commitment” together, Olbera has progressed well, Hirth says.
“I feel there’s a trust between us,” says Hirth, adding that Olbera’s age has not been an obstacle.
Olbera, like many of the program’s 50 learners, enrolled after hearing about the benefits of adult literacy through a company recruitment at her workplace, Charles River Lab. The company encourages its employees, many of whom are Spanish-speaking, to improve their literacy.
“I would like to improve my skills for work … to get to the next step in the job,” says Olbera, who is an animal technician with the medical research company.
Hirth joined the ALP as a tutor because of the immediate gratification gained from contributing to someone’s accomplishments, which would be highly unlikely without the program.
“It’s seeing her eyes shine when she gets all the answers right in her workbook,” Hirth says of Olbera, “her telling me about a story she has read and being there to share her success.”
The relationship between Hirth and Olbera – one characterized by respect between a tutor, with a selfless passion for the cause, and a learner striving to improve her societal status and job marketability, and ultimately her quality of life – epitomizes the aim of the program.
While the county’s earliest ALP started in 1984 and operated on a much smaller scale, the current program was launched three years ago when San Juan Bautista Library’s head librarian Pat Larkin was awarded a six-year grant with an annual allotment of $64,000.
The program runs out of three locations – the SJB Library, the SBC Free Library and the YMCA. The program, for residents 18 years and older, provides one-on-one training in reading, speaking, writing and math.
Since the time of inception, according to Executive Director Barbara Scott, the ALP has “grown quite a bit.” As of today, 50 tutors and 11 advisory board members volunteer, while the program employs Scott full-time and an assistant part-time.
During the past eight months, the number of tutors and learners has doubled, an encouraging statistic considering San Benito County’s illiteracy rate of 28 percent, Scott says. Moreover, including the county’s unreported population of illegal immigrants, she acknowledged a “good possibility” that percentage is even higher.
However, program officials have set a primary goal of reaching 8 percent illiteracy countywide by 2010.
In comparison, Santa Clara County, which has an extensive ALP called Vision Literacy, has an illiteracy rate of 19 percent, according to Scott.
“We have a significant issue here (in SBC),” says Scott, who added there is a correlation between illiteracy and crime.
She credits much of the program’s rapid development of participation to former executive director Theresa Kiernan, the first leader of the ALP, whom Scott says “put in an excellent infrastructure.”
“She (Kiernan) spent a lot of time promoting the program,” Scott says.
Kiernan, now executive director of the county Chamber of Commerce, says she “started from scratch” at the ALP. “We had no office space, no phones, virtually nothing,” Kiernan says.
Reaching out
From the beginning, Kiernan emphasized involvement in the community, not only from volunteers, but also from companies that would benefit from non-English-speaking employees improving their literacy.
Charles River Labs bought into those advantages for its workers after Plant Manager Don Moody invited Scott to the plant in July to make a presentation about the ALP.
“He was very encouraged, that it will help his employees do better on the job,” Scott says.
Since, Moody has continually promoted the program to his 110 employees, and six Spanish-speaking workers are currently participating.
Moody was so impressed with the ALP and its objectives, he has since joined the advisory board. Kiernan also sits on the board.
“It just helps with the whole communication between the employees and the management team,” Moody says.
Even with six learners among his employee base, Moody says the company could take better advantage of the free service. However, one problem stands in the way.
The obstacle for Moody and other local companies is not a lack of interest, but rather a demand for tutors. Currently, there is a waiting list of about 20 learners in need of time with a tutor, Scott says.
While the ALP strives to attract more volunteers, Scott says she will continue an aggressive community outreach, namely among local businesses, to expand the learner base.
“That’s the thrust of things,” she says, “to get more involved in the business community.”
She also recruits through public service announcements on radio and television and has spoken to several organizations. Last week, she attended a meeting of the Native Daughters of the Golden West.
Even though the ALP has experienced a surging success during the past year, the undeniable reality of another potential thorn – funding – could halt the program’s development.
Next year, the state-allocated grant diminishes by 75 percent. The year after, funding stops. Scott will attempt to offset those losses with a fundraiser June 14 – the inaugural Flag Day 10K run and walk. The program has also received donations from the local United Way chapter, Community Foundations and Aspect Communications of the Bay Area.
Scott is not greatly concerned about money because of the upcoming fundraiser and, she says, “because I am thinking positively” about the program.
She says if there is a way to increase publicity, the adult literacy in this county will thrive into the future. With the enthusiasm of tutors such as Hirth, and when others see the program’s impact, Scott says the program sells itself and people “jump on board.”
“They give back something to the community,” Scott says of tutors. “When I think about giving the ability to read to someone, I think of it as a gift, which it really is.”
