Another Year of Personal Successes
In This Small Room with Lilacs:
ESL on Linden
I've arrived to read them poems.
I explain the word pomegranate;
Say: red, round, sweet, rubies,
and they smile, nod.
Yes, says Ludmilla,
in the Ukraine, the same.
Osmany, from Cuba says,
sometimes we have them at Christmas.
Yes, he says, rubies.
I move on to starfish,
show them the ones on my bracelet.
Say how they cling to rocks at low tide
in a magenta wash.
Soo Jin says in Korea they are
sometimes the colour of the sun.
Then: red-winged black birds,
I show them a picture;
tell them how I hear their song
like falling water, when I shower outside
each morning.
Outside, even in winter? asks Alexandra,
imagining Russian ice and snowdrift.
Even in winter, I say.
But this spring, there are ravens,
hummingbirds,
the music of blackbirds,
that I hear every morning,
speaking a language
I can't understand.
Wendy Morton
There have been many success stories this year for our students.
Every child, youth and adult who comes to READ has taken that
important - and often difficult - first step towards improving their
reading, writing, math or English language skills. We're proud
of all our students for acknowledging that they need some help
and for the efforts they have made to overcome their learning
challenges. We're honored that they have chosen READ.
A couple of our
bright spots this year are highlighted in this issue. This month, Victoria
poet Wendy Morton visited our
ELSA program and read her poetry to newcomers to Canada –
students from 15 different countries. Wendy believes strongly in
the power of poetry as a means of written expression and
communication. The students were completely captivated and
wrote poems of their own. Wendy was moved by the experience
to write the poem "In This Small Room with Lilacs" on this
page.
Students in our adult literacy classes come from many different
backgrounds with different skills and goals in mind. Art
Boudreau came to READ after a workplace injury meant he
couldn't do the kind of work he was used to anymore. Art
needed to develop reading and writing skills in order to find
different employment. Art joined a class at the Victoria READ
Society seven months ago. At that time, Art was a storyteller,
but he was unable to write even a sentence. With the support and
encouragement of family, friends, classmates, volunteers and his
teacher, Art learned computer, writing and project management
skills. He turned one of his wonderful stories into a book.
Everybody
in the class had a part to play in the development of his
novel, Elephant Mountain.
See the enclosed poster for details
of Art's book launch. We hope
you can make it!
Julie Holder
Executive Director |
