Contributed by the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy
On Oct. 9 buy your local newspaper from a volunteer on the street. Your donation goes directly to a literacy program in your community.
Join the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy and Black Press to promote, celebrate and support literacy initiatives in your community.
The Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy (CBAL) is the Columbia Basin and Boundary region not-for-profit literacy organization. Our vision is that local communities across the Columbia Basin and Boundary region will be healthy, inclusive, and committed to literacy and learning as lifelong and lifewide activities.
CBAL works closely with libraries, schools, colleges and other community partners in your community to offer a variety of paths to learning. Schools and colleges provide formal learning opportunities that follow a curriculum and result in formal recognition of learning by awarding diplomas or degrees. Both CBAL community based programming and college continuing education courses provide opportunities to learn in non-formal ways. That is, although there are recognized learning outcomes, the learning process is generally more relaxed and does not result in a diploma or degree. A silversmithing course at the local college or a senior’s computer program offered by CBAL are both examples of non-formal learning. CBAL’s informal learning programs provide experiential learning opportunities and are designed to be responsive to the needs of those who participate. They do not result in formal credits and are led by someone who is acting as a facilitator of learning. These kinds of programs include Autobiographical Writing, Making Connections: Learning and Reading Partners, ESL conversation groups, and various parent and child early learning programs.
CBAL’s staff recognize the uniqueness of each community we serve and offer non-formal and informal literacy and learning programs to meet specific, local needs. The staff helps adults develop the functional skills in reading, writing, numeracy, English language, essential workplace skills and computer skills they need to be successful lifelong learners. We also help families with resources and information about how to support the learning development of their children beginning at birth. Improved skills increase confidence and participation in the economic, political and cultural life of the community.
You can make a difference in your local community. Participate in the Reach a Reader campaign by purchasing a paper on Oct. 9, volunteering to sell papers, or simply spreading the word as a campaign champion. To get involved, contact The Revelstoke Times Review, or the Community Literacy Coordinator in Revelstoke at tspannier@cbal.org. Or call Tracy Spannier at 250-805-2305.