This month's issue of The Literacy Notepad presents another member of the Literacy Development Council. Fred Andrews was born in St. John's and resides in Logy Bay. He has a BA, BED from Memorial University of Newfoundland and a MED from St. Francis Xavier University in Antigonish, Nova Scotia. Fred is presently Department Head of Social Studies at Holy Trinity Regional High School in Torbay.
Fred has extensive involvement with NLTA and is presently serving as table officer with its provincial executive. It was during his tenure as chairperson of the communications committee that a pamphlet on Diagnosing/Recognizing various reading difficulties was prepared and published.
Communication is of the utmost importance in our attempts to provide quality services. There is a tremendous amount of activity ongoing at a provincial and national level. This information can give us improved insight into the services and programs required by both learners and practitioners. As a newcomer to one of the fastest growing forms of communication, the lnternet, my experiences have been largely positive. I have found it to be very user friendly.
I have been particularly impressed with the services provided by NALD, the National Adult Literacy Database. There is a host of information at this site. The provincial contacts are up-to-date and new literacy organizations are establishing home pages on a regular basis. You may want to get involved in one or more of the discussion groups available. It is a great way to test your ideas and receive feedback. You will also get the opportunity to partner at a professional level with others interested in the field. Keep in mind that NALD services are not restricted to practitioners, students can have the opportunity to share information as well. I strongly encourage you to browse this site to get a sense of what it has to offer.
This is our final edition of The Literacy Notepad for the 1995-96 academic year. I hope this publication has been informative. We look forward to continuing this form of communication, with your support, in the fall. Take time to relax during the summer, have a great vacation!
Dear Editor,
Time flies so quickly that the second volume of The Notepad arrived before I had time to respond to the first. My intention was to congratulate you on a job well done on your first issue. It is an interesting forum to reach those groups working with literacy. It tells the public how and where their funds are going. As well, it shows what's happening in literacy programs in various parts of our province.
The back page of your first publication talked about Pen Pals, a new publication started by the Correctional Centres. The article stated that the next edition of Pen Pals was to be published by the Bishop's Fails Correctional Centre. We have the second volume out now, and we haven't heard any negative remarks so far. The West Coast Correctional Centre is considering doing the next one.
Since the first publication of Pen Pals, Clarenville Correctional Centre has switched to a female institution. The complete transfer and full operations was due to begin by early April.
Frank Drake
Bishop's Falls
Correctional Centre
