Hiram Mayor Doris Devey met with the English as a Second Language students at the Adult Education Center on the third floor of the Old Court House in Dallas to sign a Proclamation declaring September 8, 2014, as International Literacy Day in Hiram. International Literacy Day is celebrated world-wide on September 8. It was only appropriate that Mayor Devey be surrounded by students from eight other countries. Left to right back row: Mr. Saleh (Pakistan), Sanita Saleh (Pakistan), Fatou Bonogo (Ivory Coast), Lisiane Nogueire (Brazil), Maria De Los Santos (Argentina), Matondo Vema (Congo), Ana Amaya (El Salvador). Middle row: Nazma Ahmed (Pakistan), Hiram Mayor Doris Devey, Liliya Kamtsan (Russia), Ana Rodriquez (El Salvador) Sarai Aguiar (Mexico), Edyie Hawthorne (ELS teacher). Front row: Betty Budnek (ESL teacher), Melissa Carrizo (Argentina), and Araceley Quevedo (Mexico).
According to a study by the U.S. Department of Education in April of this year, 32 million adults can’t read in our country. This is 14% of our population. Twenty-one percent read below the fifth grade level and 19% of high school graduates can’t read. (Huffingtonpost.com). So what do we have in Paulding County to help these adults?
The Paulding County Adult Education program, located on the third floor of the old courthouse in Dallas, offers free classes to adults who are low level readers. (770-443-1660) The Paulding Literacy Council offers one-on-one tutoring to adults who can’t read at all or are below fifth grade level in reading. (678-372-2952) If you know someone without literacy skills, help them hook up with one of these programs, so we can reduce the percentages in our country.