Tag: Council

FORT SMITH — Just one of Nancy Martinez Tejada’s plans as board president of the Literacy Council of Western Arkansas is to encourage others in the group.

Initially from El Salvador, Tejada, 35, was a student at the Literacy Council and served on its board before getting elected board president in August. She lives in Fort Smith with her husband and two boys and runs her have small business.

Tejada said people can do “incredible factors” when they master a different language, as she did with English by means of lessons the Literacy Council offered.

“I believe what she desires is to make positive other folks know that, even however it’s hard to start off, you can accomplish just about anything you want to if you just place the function into it and get the assist you have to have,” Bente Eriksen, executive director of the Literacy Council, explained.

Eriksen said the council, a nonprofit business, supplies tutoring services about a variety of subjects. This contains grownup essential education and learning, typical educational growth test preparing, English as a next language, Spanish, citizenship and drivers education, as nicely as wellbeing, economic and digital literacy.

The council features the solutions totally free of cost to everyone 16 and more mature, in accordance to the organization’s web page. New pupils can enroll at any time, immediately after which they are matched with a volunteer tutor and tutoring classes — which are furnished either 1-on-one particular or in small groups — are scheduled based mostly on pupil needs and availability. The business begun two more packages very last year — a outfits closet in August and a foodstuff pantry in October.

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Eriksen mentioned the council not only allows its college students through its educational services, but their people and friends by extension. By its other providers, these kinds of as the dresses closet and food stuff pantry, Eriksen would like the firm to be known as a local community room that will give any sort of enable to any individual who arrives in.

“We do not seem at if they have a beginning certification, or if they have their position simply because they are persons — all of them — and all of them need to have support,” Eriksen stated. “Many of the areas individuals switch to say, ‘Yeah, yeah, we will help you,’ but it stops there. We want to be the position that truly can enable.”

Tejada explained she started off getting one-hour courses twice a week on studying, creating and talking English with a personalized tutor at the Literacy Council in 2013. Prior to this, she received a typical instructional growth certification via the Crawford County Grownup Education and learning Center in Van Buren in 2009 and a high school diploma in El Salvador.

Tejada was inspired to acquire the courses by her desire to get a improved occupation and have whole conversations with different styles of individuals. She stated while she knew a minor English at the time, she was scared to a particular extent because of to her accent.

“Which is just one of the major fears that many folks like us have,” Tejada said.

Tejada continued her training by way of the business for nearly a 12 months. She explained the courses she took permitted her to study a language and lose her fears to the position she was in a position to start her company in January 2018 — Avanty Multiservice at 2231 Midland Blvd. She offers solutions as a notary community, insurance coverage agent and tax preparer, doing work primarily with the Hispanic group in the River Valley.

Eriksen stated Tejada began serving on the Literacy Council’s board about three many years in the past.

“I wished to return a little something of what I was presented,” Tejada mentioned.

Eriksen stated Tejada is executing very properly as president of the board soon after her fellow board members voted her into this place. As a former student of the Literacy Council, Tejada is aware of what the business is carrying out and can do to enable individuals. She also has a impressive outreach to the Hispanic group.

“Obtaining a former pupil sitting down on the board is amazing,” Eriksen explained. “I have previous volunteers, I have previous tutors sitting down on the board, but acquiring a pupil on the board, she is why we are right here, and she can explain to everyone why we’re listed here and that is priceless.”

Eriksen stated Tejada qualified prospects by case in point, functioning to personally handle wants of the Literacy Council as they arrive up. She credits Tejada as one particular of the major instigators for the generation of the organization’s foodstuff pantry late very last calendar year.

100 people have been enrolled in the Literacy Council’s lessons in complete as of Thursday, in accordance to Eriksen.