Program puts emphasis on literacy

by Anna Ferguson Hall (The Brunswick News)

Lorette Hoover never intended to be in the educational arena.

First earning a bachelor’s degree in business, followed by a master’s degree in industrial management, she eventually found herself as part of an employee production and preparation team with an agricultural operation. That position, strange as it may sound, brought out her passion for teaching adults and helping people progress in their lives, she said.

“I never thought of myself as ever being an educator,” Hoover said.

Years later, her career path changed. She is now president of Altamaha Technical College.

The path that led to where she is today started with her German-born mother, who did not speak English well and never graduated high school. Eventually, though, she worked her way through a GED, then went on to get a bachelor’s degree and become a teacher, perfecting her English along the way.

“I was this kid growing up in Columbus,Ga., and saw my mother break those cycles of inter-generational poverty,” she said. “That made all the difference for me. My first teaching job was in a prison teaching literacy. I helped others break that cycle, too.”

Hoover related her story Wednesday to a group of Golden Isles business and community leaders, spreading the message of the impact Altamaha Technical College’s Adult Literacy Project can have in the region.  Literacy has been a hot-button issue in the Golden Isles in recent months, after the public learned the community holds a 1 in 4 illiteracy rate, she said.

“Look around you in line at Wal-Mart,” Hoover said. “That person in front of you, behind you, they may look like anyone you know. But that statistic – one in four – that hits home. That person could be that statistic.”

The estimated 25 percent illiteracy rate taunting the region needs to be changed for the betterment of the community, said Catina Tindell, director of the board of United Way of Coastal Georgia.

Hoover said individuals who are more literate and have higher education levels are better employees. Better employees mean a more successful business and more prominent local business atmosphere. That enhanced atmosphere can go on to attract even more businesses and more jobs to the area, thus helping the local economy and bringing more unemployed individuals out of poverty and off government assistance.

“It’s a cycle; it’s a chain of events,” Hoover said. “That chain all starts with literacy.” Attending the adult literacy roundtable as a representative with the community’s largest employer, Southeast Georgia Health System,\ Jackie Weder was excited to hear how the adult-geared program might benefit her industry. Already, the health care system has invested heavily in community educational initiatives, partnering extensively with College of Coastal Georgia and the Glynn County School System. But it’s always looking for new ways to increase learning programs for both current and potential employees, the vice president of marketing said.

"We need to turn this literacy problem around,” Weder said.

Fixing the low literacy rate in the region is a long-term project, one that will entail a network of community partners. Area businesses and residents can help in many ways and shouldn’t be shy about coming forward, Hoover said.

Be it an in-kind donation or a donation of supplies, every little bit helps, Hoover said. “Ink cartridges, pens, paper, all of it we could use,” Hoover said to the group of community leaders and business owners. “You can make a difference in so many ways.”

Volunteers from all walks of life are also desperately needed, even if it’s just for one hour a week, Hoover said.

“We need people...to be more a mentor than anything,” Hoover said. “You don’t have to have a background in teaching or education. Our volunteers are tutors, but really, are guides for life. All we ask is that you have passion.”