VITA TUTOR INFORMATION

STUDENT SUPPORT GROUP

Tutors please encourage your students to attend the student support group that takes place on one day a month at the VITA training room on the 4th floor of the Whitney Bank building. We will post the day and times monthly.

MAY 17, 2005 --- CPR Class --- Eugene Dulane, Vita tutor and certified CPR instructor will be teaching emergency procedures used for adult CPR. The morning class is from 9:00-11:00 a.m. and the afternoon class is from 1:00-3:00 p.m.Students may sign up in the computor lab or call the VITA office at 234-4600. Each session is limited to 10 students. You must register to attend

VITA Success Stories

Nearly 700 adults came to the program for asistance to increase their reading and writing skills or English speaking skills. Learners came for a variety of reasons that relate to their goals as lifelong learners, workers, family members and community members. The learners at VITA have made large gains toward these goals through a great deal of hard work and dedication. Let me share with you three of their stories.

Rose has been a learner at VITA for 11 months. She quit school in the eighth grade and could not read or spell very well. She would pick up the newspaper and skip the words she did not know or try to guess what they were from the rest of the sentence. She was good at fooling others. She speaks well and became good at hiding her shortcomings. Rose has worked for a moving company for 20 years as a packing supervisor and has six women working for her. Because she could not spell well she got others to do the labeling. She compensated for her inadequacy in spelling, but it was harder to cover her reading problem. Rose finally came to the VITA office in Opelousas for help. She has a tutor, goes to a class to help her improve her spelling skills, and attends the computer lab every day. She has improved in her reading by two levels this year and is much more confident in handling her life. She has written a speech about her achievements and reads it at meetings and tutor workshops to help recruit students and tutors for VITA. She has even recruited seven members of her own family to VITA.

Christina came to VITA eight months ago. She is from Colombia and moved to Lafayette with her American husband several years ago. She studied English in school, but could not speak or understand English well. She joined and ESL (English as a Second Language) conversation class held at Ascension Church where child care was provided by VITA. Christina is very pleased with her progress. She says that she is now able to carry on a conversation with her in-laws and neighbors. When she takes her child to the pedriatrician, she is now able to ask him questions and she understands his instructions for the care of her child. Christina has received a high school equivalency diploma after successfully completing the GED program and will soon take the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreighn Language) as a requirement for enrolling in ULL.

The following story is from an address presented by VITA student, Donald, who spoke to his son's class:

"My name is Donald and I am here today to try and motivate your minds to do your best in school. Some of us as parents don't know how to get the message through. I would like to read a story to you about Sacajawea. I learned about her in one of my workbooks at VITA. Going to VITA has inspired me so much becasue I learned to read better. I am thirty-eight years old and trying to learn how to read better. When I had the chance to learn, I was hot-headed and stubborn. I thought that I knew everything. But after all these years, I look back and see that because I did not know how to read, I was headed nowhere.

I recently got a promotion on my job. Now that I can read better, I am willing to face real challenges. We have to think like a winner. Really all I want to say to you is that you will learn for yourself. When you look around, there is no one but you standing in your shoes. I even learned that writing can be magic. So, if you have a problem, sit down and write something. Reading is like getting away. You can put your mind elsewhere. What I am saying is, be honest with yourself and you will be able to conquer the world. I think if we put love in place of hurt and honesty in place of hate, then we will have a drug-free country.

Main -|- VITA -|- Statistics -|- Sign Up