Literacy is taking a licking.
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Strong communication skills have become more valuable in these new millennial days. The abundance of information hovering at our fingertips is only truly available to those with the fluid tools to travel through it. The ability to peruse, scan and scrutinize the words thrown at us from books, computers-even our TVs-is crucial to the deciphering of our world. The capacity to make an informed vote hinges on what-and how well-we read.
But adult illiteracy, even in the so-called "first world" is more widespread than you might think. According to Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe, one in five New Mexican adults reads at a first or second grade level. Miriam Sagan, a poet and author who teaches writing courses at the Santa Fe Community College, says that she encounters people who need help with basic literacy every day. "I see the failure of our education system at the high school level. It's disgraceful for an industrialized nation such as we allegedly are," she says.
Sagan feels that illiteracy in Santa Fe is a big problem that often goes unnoticed. "I think people who can't read are very clever and are able to disguise it," she says. "There are people who are professionals who are terrified of writing-inhibited about it. People admit to a math phobia, but I think a lot of people have a writing phobia."
Feeding such fear may have a high cost, though; our reading and writing skills directly affect our children's performance in school, according to studies compiled by the worldwide literacy advocacy organization, ProLiteracy Worldwide. The group aslo has found that low literacy levels correspond to higher incarceration rates, lack of access to proper health care and an inability to adequately contribute to business and industry-all issues very much at the fore of life in Santa Fe.
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"As folks learn better language, it improves the city for everyone," says Mike Stevenson, president of the Literacy Volunteers board. "There are huge economic costs due to illiteracy."
Celebrated local author Stanley Crawford has written several satirical novels but is perhaps most known in New Mexico for his nonfiction work,
A Garlic Testament
, detailing the growing and selling of what is arguably the most valuable ingredient to any meal. Years ago, Crawford taught an advanced English as a Second Language class in Colombia, and found the experience to be rewarding on a number of levels: "I helped them with English and they would help me with Spanish. There are always moments where you see students get over a little hill, and that's gratifying." What most concerns Crawford is students not even having the opportunity to tackle that hill. "What is disturbing to me is children coming to age in homes where the only words are the ones that flash across the television screen," he says. "I grew up in a house where there were a lot of books and a lot of magazines."
I learned some of Crawford's lessons first hand a little over a year ago as a volunteer assistant for an adult ESL class in Colorado Springs. Like most of its nationwide counterparts, the class was part of an underfunded, understaffed program doing its best to teach English to the city's burgeoning immigrant population. Almost all of my students had followed a family member here from Mexico; others had left family behind in search of economic opportunity in the United States. All had arrived to an unfavorable seasonal job market-my best student had been a pediatrician in Mexico; now, she was a housekeeper. It was her inability to speak English that kept her from her career.
It wasn't until I taught English that I realized how difficult the language actually is. Full of irregularities, complexities and an unforgiving list of words that incorporate the unfortunate letter combination
ough
, English is a language that native speakers take for granted. But just try explaining why "thief" becomes "thieves," but "chief" doesn't follow the same pattern. You might find yourself at a loss for words.
Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe is helping adults improve their reading, writing and speaking skills through individual and group tutoring, providing several programs for adults, including a computer-based learning group, on-the-job tutoring, family literacy services and individualized tutoring. These services are all free for all students.
LVSF's annual fundraiser, Evening with an Author, hits the town this September in celebration of its 20th anniversary of serving the region's adult education needs. Many local writers-and even one from Scotland-will be on hand in support of literacy and to listen to featured author and keynote speaker Sarah Lovett. At long last, your chance to mingle with the Santa Fe literati-for a good cause, even-is here.
This fall, as the yellow bus barrels down the road to pull your kids away from summer's never-ending string of bad reruns and throw them cold turkey into the classroom, be grateful for the education they're getting, but make reading a priority at home. Maybe a homework assignment of your own will help emphasize how critical reading and writing really are: Check out the Literacy Volunteers of Santa Fe fundraising dinner. Or, if ticket prices are a little steep, do the next best thing and volunteer.
"A person who can read will never be trapped by their own circumstances," says Sagan, who along with Crawford and Lovett will be one of 20 authors at the LVSF fundraiser. "You always have a way to access another world."
