LPM e-bulletin

Gail Asper urges members at the AGM to keep up the good work for literacy

At the AGM on November 23, Marilyn Day, president of LPM, presented the Community Partnership Award to Gail Asper in recognition of the CanWest Global Foundation's contribution to literacy.

Over the past three years LPM has distributed $42,500 in CanWest Raise-a-Reader Grants to family literacy programs throughout the province.  LPM, with the help of LPM Board Member Trevor Surgenor and Perimeter Airlines, has distributed more than 10,000 books from the CanWest Raise-a-Reader Book Drive to remote, northern, and inner city locations. CanWest Global also donated office space to LPM from December 2004 to June 2005.

In the picture above, Gail Asper(l) accepts the Community Partnership Award from LPM president, Marilyn Day.

Another highlight of the meeting was the powerful speech by Learner Speakers' Bureau representative, Esther Oi-Ying Hung. Esther spoke of how she stayed at home for eight years after arriving in Winnipeg, too shy to go out. She credits Joan Mollins of Employment Projects of Winnipeg for helping her gain the confidence to speak publicly.

In the picture at right, Esther is standing with Learner Outreach Coordinator, Jan Graham.

The election of directors has been deferred until the bylaws of Literacy Partners of Manitoba are revised in Plain Language.  The elections will be held before the end of February 2006.

If you weren't able to attend the AGM, you can enjoy the virtual experience by following the links to the annual report.

Come to the Literacy Practioners' Breakfast on December 9

We invite literacy practitioners to join us at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, December 9, to meet colleagues, share concerns, and talk about their plans for the year. Please reply to Connie Bell at 947-5757, 1-866-947-5757 or conniebell@mts.net.

Order your family literacy materials now

On behalf of ABC Canada, we are now taking orders for Family Literacy Day materials, everything from T-shirts to Tip sheets. Get your orders in early - first come, first served. Deadline is January 16. Click here to download an order form.

Apply for Bursaries

LPM is calling for applications for Raise-a-Reader funding for family literacy (deadline January 31), PGI Learner Bursaries, and the Katherine Aird Hamilton Bursary for literacy instructors (deadline January 31).

Manitoba scores around national average in literacy results

The latest International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALLS) suggest that Manitoba literarcy skills have declined in the last ten years. But this may not be the case. Click here to read an analysis of these results.

Bookmates moves to new digs

On December 19, Bookmates will be moving to new digs at 219 Provencher Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Winnipeg, Manitoba R2H 0G4. Phone and fax numbers will remain the same.

Executive Director Terrie Moar commented that effective, efficient service to families and family-focused organizations would continue as before.

"This new space will give us a little more elbow room and a lot more space to prepare our family learning training programs," she said. "We’ll be having an open house to celebrate as soon as our service calendar allows. We will send out more information on the celebration once we are settled."

Dauphin Friendship Centre promotes literacy awareness in the region

On October 19, the Dauphin Friendship Centre held its second annual Literacy Challenge to raise awareness of literacy issues.

Barb St. Goddard, Director of Development, organized the event that consisted of eight different stations, each one consisting of activities such as grammar, spelling and simple math. The occasion helped illustrate the difficulty students can have and showed how “written our world is”.

In the picture above (courtesy of the Dauphin Herald), members of the North West Metis Council take up the challenge.

In order to support those organizations that could not attend, mobile units went out to establishments. This was a popular option, with about half the teams participating in this way.

Thirteen teams took part in the event, up two from last year. That evening, all the teams were invited to the DFC for coffee and dessert. Prizes were awarded to the first, second, third and fourth place teams. The Laverne Morriseau Adult Learning Centre Wizards came out on top.

Check out the LITERACYWORKS website

LITERACYWORKS is on line. Their simple, clear website offers useful information for learners, volunteers, and literacy supporters. Check it out at http://www.litworks.ca.

In the picture, Terry Smith (l) and Lorraine Kaczor (r) of LITERACYWORKS chat with Regina Urbano-Ramos of Adult Learning and Literacy.

Learners required to evaluate health documents

Many of you have read or tested our Literacy and Health project documents, Going to the Doctor and the Patient Prompt Card. We are looking for 20 learners to read and evaluate these documents by responding to a questionnaire. They may work with the documents either in the classroom setting or on their own. We will pay them an honorarium for this task. Please recommend one or two students from your program who would be willing and able to do this.

Renew your membership

Membership fees for 2005-2006 are now due. Click here for membership forms.

Upcoming Events

Third International Conference on Speech, Writing and Context: Language and Literacy Acquisition, Edmonton, Alberta, August 16-18, 2006.

Click here to visit the conference website.

Visit our literacy events page to see more upcoming events: http://www.mb.literacy.ca/litevents.htm

Keep in touch

Every time that we send out a bulletin or newsletter by email we miss a few members because their email address is not current. Please tell us if you change your address. Forward this on to any members who say they didn't receive it, and ask them to send us their address. When you renew your membership, make sure you print your email address clearly.