Dollar General Presentation Series
National Coalition for Literacy Webinar Series on Public Policy Advocacy
—Provided with generous support from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation
The National Coalition for Literacy has a unique opportunity to provide a series of four Webinars, in collaboration with NCL members, on public policy and advocacy related issues. These Webinars are available to NCL members and their constituents only. Descriptions of the webinars, registration information, lists of guest experts, handouts and Webinar archives can be found for each Webinar by visiting the links below.
Organizing a Regional Grassroots Literacy Advocacy Network
Date: June 16, 2010
Time: 1:30 – 3:00 pm Eastern
Date: March 16, 2010
Time: 2:45 – 5:00 PM Central
Advocating Effectively for Professional Development
—Co-hosted by the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers (AALPD), the National Coalition for Literacy, and ProLiteracy
Date: February 24, 2010
Time: 12:30 – 2:00 PM Eastern
Upcoming Webinars will be listed here as they are scheduled. Please check back for more information.
North Carolina Symposium on Public Policy Advocacy
NCL held its first public policy advocacy symposium under its 2009-10 Dollar General Literacy Foundation grant on Nov. 17-18 in partnership with the North Carolina Basic Skills Program and Community College System, and the North Carolina Literacy Association . The symposium “straddled” two state conferences – the NC Basic Skills and Community College conferences. More than 90 new adult education advocates attended over the course of two days. Guest speakers included Jackson Routh (Dollar General Community Initiatives Manager), Dr. Peter Waite (NCL President), Lynn Selmser (NCL Public Policy Director) and meeting facilitators Jackie Taylor and Marsha Tait (NCL Public Policy Com
mittee Co-Chairs).
Local panelists and speakers included Dr. Randy Whitfield (Associate Vice President of Academic and Student Services, Basic Skills Department, North Carolina Community College System), Jennifer Gore (Executive Director of Reading Connections), Dr. Ed Smith (Interim Director of the Gaston County Chamber of Commerce), Kaye Gribble (Executive Director of the Gaston Literacy Council), and Donna Locket (Executive Director of Gaston Together). The symposium featured a panel discussion about the challenges and successes of Gaston Career Climb, a local collaboration representing the culmination of more than ten years of planning to increase the basic skills of workers in Gaston County, NC.
The forum included presentations about the importance of public policy advocacy on behalf of adult education at the local, state, and federal levels. Speakers discussed their own advocacy experiences, and demonstrated advocacy skills through role plays and discussions. Jackie Taylor showed participants how to use the NCL On-Line Advocacy Toolkit and Clearinghouse, and participants blogged live during the symposium. Jackson Routh awarded two surprise $2,500 grants, drawn randomly from attendees; and participants were offered the opportunity to apply for two additional $5,000 grants via RFP. These funds will all be used to build the public policy advocacy infrastructure in North Carolina.
One participant commented: "This was the most informative, relevant, useful opportunity that one could participate in to better serve our students, programs, and the state needs as it relates to literacy education."
NCL extends its sincere thanks to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation for generous support of the event, and its colleagues and partners in North Carolina for their assistance in making the symposium a success. Planning has begun to identify a location and partners for the next symposium, to be held in the spring of 2010.
NCL Leadership Awards Gathers Largest Reception Ever
 Congressman Patrick Kennedy (RI), accepting a tribute to his father, Senator Edward Kennedy, spoke to the audience about increasing funding for adult literacy. “Where we put [the money] is the best reflection of where we put our real values. So hopefully we can keep working to put more of our values in this area. Because you get this right, you can start moving everything else forward. You don’t get this right, nothing else will work.” Kennedy’s remarks 
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“The best way we can show where our priorities are is to put our money where our mouth is,” challenged Congressman Patrick Kennedy (RI) while speaking to Appropriations Committee colleague, Congressman Zach Wamp (TN), and the more than 130 participants at the National Coalition for Literacy (NCL) Leadership Awards reception.
Held at the Library of Congress on September 16, 2009, the annual NCL Literacy Leadership Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to improving literacy in the United States. 2009 award recipients are:
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NCL President, Sherrie Claiborne, also presented Congressman Patrick Kennedy with a tribute to his father, Senator Edward Kennedy, honoring his great work and dedication as a champion of adult education and literacy.
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“I’m very proud to live in a country that gives second chances. I’m proud of my family, my friends, and my fans, who have continued their education,” said Gretchen Wilson, Grammy Award winner and country music recording artist, in her acceptance remarks. “As an artist, I was never really very comfortable being a role model…When I started the process of getting my GED… this was the first time I got to feel what being that kind of role model was all about,” she said.
 Congressman Marsha Blackburn presents Wilson with a copy of the Congressional record. Blackburn’s remarks
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Earlier that day, Congressman Marsha Blackburn (TN) gave accolades to Wilson on the House floor for her leadership in galvanizing thousands to go back to school and earn their GED credential. Blackburn noted that in Congress, Members can make certain that the good works of their constituents are duly noted in Congressional record by making an official statement for the permanent record of the proceedings of the House. Blackburn read the full official statement for the reception audience and presented a printed copy to Gretchen Wilson.
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"When will we realize that when we leave an adult behind, we leave a family behind?" asked retired Congressman Bill Goodling, as he introduced Congressman Raúl Grijalva. Grijalva was honored for his strong support of working families, especially those who are learning English. In 2007, he introduced HR 1224, the Families Learning and Understanding English Together (FLUEnT) Act, which proposes expanding and enhancing family literacy services, and is cosponsor of a number of bills currently in Congress that promote literacy for children, adults, and families.
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“As he saw it, the first step [to overcoming illiteracy] was to tell your own story, and in doing so, come to own your accomplishments, have respect for your own history,” Courtney Miles shared. She told the story of Calvin Miles, her grandfather, and of his commitment to student involvement as she received the award on his behalf. Miles believed illiteracy was “a right to overcome and share”; he took on a mission to bring other adults to literacy. “He was an includer, drawing the hesitant or the outsider into the group. He encouraged you, and made you feel comfortable and valued,” she said of Calvin, who had been a leader in the national adult student organization, VALUE, Voice of Adult Learners United to Educate.
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Brenda Dann-Messier, President and CEO of Dorcas Place, an adult and family education and workforce development program in Providence, RI, asked colleagues from her program to stand and be recognized for their outstanding achievements. For 30 years, Dorcas Place has created innovative programs to meet the changing needs of the diverse community it serves. It leads the way in promising practices, highlighted, for example, by the National College Transitions Network. In June 2009, President Obama announced his intent to nominate Dann-Messier as the Assistant Secretary of Vocational and Adult Education at the Department of Education.
Presenting the awards to honorees were:
- Congressman William F. Goodling, presenting to Representative Raúl Grijalva
- Sharon Darling, President and Founder of the National Center for Family Literacy, presenting to Brenda Dann-Messier
- David Harvey, President and CEO of ProLiteracy, presenting to Meri-K Appy
- Bernadine Nelson, Program Director, Wilson County Adult Education, presenting to Gretchen Wilson
- Sherrie Claiborne, NCL President, presenting to Courtney Miles, who received the award for Calvin Miles posthumously
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Senator Patricia Murray is a champion for women and families. Murray has drawn on her experience as a PTA member and a school board president to make education a national priority. Among her many successes in raising the priority of education, she has been a champion for increased funding for adult basic education and literacy, and has frequently taken a leadership role urging her colleagues to restore funding for Even Start.
Due to developments on the Hill, Senator Murray could not attend to the reception. However, NCL Board Members Art Ellison and Heidi Silver Pacuilla, Policy Co-Chair Jackie Taylor, and Policy Director Lynn Selmser, presented the award to Senator Murray outside the Senate chambers the following day.
The Literacy Leadership Awards reception was cosponsored by the National Coalition for Literacy and the Center for the Book, and generously supported by a grant from the Dollar General Literacy Foundation. For questions pertaining to the event, contact Heidi Silver-Pacuilla or Marsha Tait .
Dollar General Series in Columbia Missouri Makes Local News
NCL/Dollar General Presentation Series Draws State and Local Officials
Atlanta will host the seventh meeting in the Dollar General Presentation Series on Wednesday, January 28, 2009; Ron Jackson, Commissioner of the Technical College System of Georgia will provide the keynote address. Debra Nixon, GED graduate from Dekalb Technical College will share her experience as an adult learner. Participants will learn about current and emerging issues in adult literacy, at the federal, state and local levels from Lynn Selmser, NCL Policy Director, Stacey Abrams, Representative for Georgia House District 84 and Mayor Jimmy Andrews of the City of Sandersville. The event, held at the Renaissance Waverly Hotel, is Sponsored by Dollar General Literacy Foundation and convened by the National Coalition for Literacy in partnership with the Office of Adult Education, Technical College System of Georgia. For more information, contact Jackie Taylor at ncl@ncldc.net or to register, contact LaTisha Toodle by Monday, January 19, at ltoodle@tcsg.edu.
Mayor of San Marcos, Texas Inspires Dollar General Presentation Series
It
is “never too late to teach someone basic skills to follow their
dream,” shared Susan Narvais, Mayor of San Marcos, TX. For Narvais,
a high school dropout, receiving her GED changed how she thought about
herself and provided the first step to a successful career in the staffing
industry and a leadership role in her community. A strong supporter of
literacy efforts and adult education, she considers the low literacy levels
in Texas a “real and present danger for our society”; the
“state will not be business friendly if it cannot provide a workforce.”
Mayor Narvais spoke at Pathways to Partnerships, the fifth meeting in the Dollar General Presentation Series, coordinated by NCL in partnership with Texas LEARNS, Texas Council of Adult Basic Education (TCABE), and Literacy Texas. Dr. Karl Eschbach, Director of the Institute for Demographic and Socio-Economic Research and Texas State Data Center, shared findings on the downward trend in educational attainment among Texas residents. The educated workforce is aging; persons born before 1964 make up 43% of the workforce and 53% of college graduates. Compared to the rest of the US, Texas ranked 35th in the % of college graduates in the population over 25.
The meeting also included a panel of business speakers from Rice University, Pilgrim’s Pride Corporation, Mission Pharmacal and the Greater Houston Partnership, who discussed how they have incorporated adult literacy services into their workplaces and what they see as the need for adult literacy in the workforce. The meeting ended with a workshop on how to educate and engage business partners and legislators around the issue of adult literacy and education, presented by Jackie Taylor.
The Series will continue with a fall meeting on October 15th in Columbia, Missouri.
Houston TX - Full Report
Spartanburg, South Carolina, February 20, 2008
NCL and Dollar
General Literacy Foundation in partnership with the South Carolina Office
of Adult Education sponsored the fourth meeting in the Dollar General
Presentation Series in Spartanburg, SC in February. Drawing the largest
audience to date 
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adult educators, program directors, business leaders, and more heard panelists
discuss trends in adult education and the impact of low literacy.
Denine Torr,
Senior
Manager, Community Initiatives, Dollar General Literacy Foundation, described
Dollar General’s mission as a call-to-action that frames the way
they do business. Literacy is a cure for many of society’s social
ills. In order to maintain global competitiveness, the nation must address
this silent epidemic and the pipeline of adults coming into the adult
education system. K-2 reform is not enough. 
Becky
Godbey of The Greater Greenville Chamber of Commerce noted that workers
must be trainable, flexible, and adaptable.
The business panel emphasized that the US needs a better educated workforce
to remain competitive and that the jobs of the future will not be the
same as the jobs of the past.
The afternoon
opened with comments by Lynn Selmser, NCL Public Policy Director, on the
importance of educating your legislators and their staff, and John Segota,
Advocacy
and Professional Relations Manager from Teachers of English to Speakers
of Other Languages, on trends in immigration. He noted that South Carolina
has the second fastest growing foreign-born population in the US, reflecting
the dramatic growth in the percentage of the workforce born outside the
US. Art Ellison, New Hampshire State Director of Adult Education, and
Jackie Taylor of the Association of Adult Literacy Professional Developers,
led a workshop on models for advocacy at the federal and state levels
and continued with ideas for educating legislators and staff about adult
literacy issues.
Spartanburg, SC - Full Report
Baltimore,
Maryland, May 1, 2007
Baltimore,
MD – Full
Report
Baltimore, MD – Executive
Summary
Phoenix, Arizona, January 17, 2007
Phoenix,
AZ – Full
Report
Phoenix, AZ – Executive
Summary
Nashville, Tennessee, October 18, 2006
Nashville,
TN – Full
Report
Nashville, TN – Executive
Summary
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