NLA Discussion: waiting lists issue

[Nancy Hansen]

Kathleen:

Well, maybe I'm off-base then.  Writing postcards, when the New Reader is
perspiring and breathing ever so *deeply* as he gives me a simple Laubach 
Book 1 writing sample, *still* seems like the impossible task due to
his/her lack of capability.  I've had many learners tell me that this
writing sample I require at entry is the first time they've ever written
anything.  "I have the wife do it for me," is a typical answer. Here's a
cute story related to writing skills: When our learner spoke to our
Literacy Breakfast crowd in 2000 about his successes, writing his first
love letter for Valentine's Day made the newspaper! And that was after he
had been in our program for 14 months!!

Would you enjoy another laugh when it comes to numbers?  Regarding your 120,000
learners:  Sioux Falls is the largest city in So. Dakota and the population for
the whole **city** is only 150 to 170,000!  It must be pretty difficult
to relate to a manager and program like ours where these are the numbers
we are working with!  We don't have nearly the problems you must have and
we can do a lot more individualized programming when we don't have to deal
with 120,000.  I know that when we put S.D. AEL numbers into the quotient,
the numbers would be higher, but trying to serve 120,000 in one *city*
must be an incredible challenge.

Thanks for your comment, Kathleen.

Nancy Hansen



KathleenBombach at aol.com wrote:

> Nancy:
>
> I think in a rural state, even a few postcards would have an effect.
> Especially if your dozen were joined by five from another program and ten
> from another. Many state legislatures are still weighted more toward rural
> representation than urban representation, and so is the electoral college
> (must to Al Gore's chagrin).
>
> I was reminded of a conference I went to in Salt Lake City for advanced
> technology centers.  The Utah people were bemoaning their incredibly large
> number of state residents without a GED or HS diploma. We Texas people asked
> them how many adults in the state lacked a HS diploma/GED. The answer was
> around 120,000.  We started laughing -- we had that many in El Paso
> alone. But obviously, for a smaller state, 120,000 people was a lot of
> people, and that  carries an advantage in getting attention with smaller
> numbers.
>
> As far as technology goes, the Community Technology Center RFP out of the
> Department of Ed, to be released this month, may be what you are looking for.
> Many of the funded projects in the past were rural, and many different
> approaches have been funded.
>
> Kathleen Bombach
>
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