VALUE USA - The "Voice of Adult Learners" - Seeking Sponsors for Adult Learner Attendance at National Leadership Institute

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Dear Friends and Supporters: Our organization will be hosting its major event April 3-5, 2017 in Washington D.C. where adult learners will get to learn, build relationships and continue to become leaders in the adult literacy field. As a non-profit organization built by adult learners, we hold our Leadership Institute in Capitol Hill every four years to give adult learners the opportunity in meeting directly with decision makers and legislators who can help our cause.   The Leadership Institute in Washington D.C. is the perfect place for adult learners to be in and we are determined to make the most in lowering the cost for them to participate. In this event they will get to learn critical thinking skills, organization structures and strategic planning through workshops and that knowledge can be used to better themselves, help their family, improve their program and community. Adult learners will also make contacts with other students from different states or even discover students from their own area thus creating a stronger network where they can share, learn and create friendships with those who are going through the same struggle.   Their participation is of great importance for us as the adult literacy field needs leaders and champions who can take the field to greater achievements in literacy and the workforce. These champions will also be the sources of inspiration for more learners taking on leadership roles and creating a stronger national prominence for the field overall.   We are working towards bringing around 125 adult learners from across the nation and are raising $40,000 to cover the base cost of the event by October 31st. Many adult learners don't hold high-paying jobs and have a hard time saving up for an event like this. If you were to ask them, they would gladly accept an invitation but probably not be able to afford it. Many of us don’t have the means but adult learners have the potential to become the next leaders for adult literacy and bringing them to the event would help accomplish such goal. We are asking you to support us to bring more adult learners that would’ve otherwise not been able to participate in this event. Your support will directly go towards lowering the cost of registration for adult learners. The Leadership Institute was created by adult learners for adult learners, and you can help them celebrate their event.   From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for your support.          Rev. David G. Hendricks President SUPPORT US   Simply click on the image below and purchase anything you want as you'd normally do on Amazon to support us. It's that easy!       Direct donations are still online and we've added an option here for PayPal users to donate. SUPPORT AN ADULT LEARNER You can now be a sponsor for the upcoming 10th National Adult Learner Leadership Institute!   We are trying to raise $40,000 through September and October to bring around 125 adult learners and you can help achieving this goal by becoming a sponsor for this event.   Click below to help get an adult learner to the event!

Follow on Twitter | Like on Facebook | Forward to Friend  Copyright © 2016 VALUEUSA, All rights reserved. This is a way to provide our supporters with the latest news and highlights from VALUEUSA Phone: (484) 443-8457 Our mailing address is: VALUEUSA 1 W 2nd St Media, PA 19063 Add us to your address book

Sequoia Adult School Scholars Program - Model for Success

Sequoia Adult School Scholars         Helping adult learners succeed, one semester at a time Sequoia Adult School Scholars (SASS) provides financial support, tutoring, and other assistance to adult students -- the vast majority of whom are immigrants working in minimum wage jobs -- so they can enroll in community college to continue their education, get jobs that pay family-sustaining wages, and serve as role models and advocates for their children.   SASS News Fall 2016

Meet Tania Ventura,  SASS's first coordinator With close to 200 recipients, 40-plus tutors, a small but growing mentoring program, and a laptop donation program, SASS has a lot to keep track of. That's why, in early August, we hired our first coordinator, Tania Ventura, who is herself a SASS recipient. Tania has a full course load at Cañada and also works half-time for SASS, where she helps coordinate the SASS tutoring, Clipper Card, and laptop programs. SASS Coordinator Tania Ventura SASS expands laptop program Thanks to contributions from two extremely generous donors, as well as a donation from Facebook, 40 SASS recipients are scheduled to receive laptops this academic year.     In addition to enabling students to complete their assignments at home (as opposed to having to go to the library, often with children in tow), owning a laptop makes it possible for students to take online courses. For example, Lorenza Villanueva, who received a Microsoft Surface Tablet last year, is taking an online word processing class this semester.   "Now that I have my own laptop, I have many more options," Lorenza says. To learn more about the SASS laptop program, check out this article in Catalyst, a Microsoft publication that focuses on how Microsoft technology is used to foster social change. SASS recipients Mauro Barrera and Lorenza Villanueva at the Microsoft Store in Palo Alto where they received Surface tablets.   Need a handyman?  Dog walker? Spanish tutor? SASS entrepreneurs are ready to help  SASS entrepreneurs are SASS students and former students who have started their own businesses. To request a list of SASS entrepreneurs and their businesses, send an email to SASS coordinator Tania Ventura. All entrepreneurs can provide references.  SASS recipients--and husband and wife-- Carlos Montes and Erendira Arcadia have started a handyman/remodeling business.  Close to 200 SASS recipients head to college This fall, SASS is supporting close to 200 students attending community colleges. About 95 percent of students are enrolled at Cañada College; the remainder attend other local community colleges including the College of San Mateo, Foothill College, and De Anza College. Students range in age from 19 to 66, with two thirds of students ages 25 - 44. About 85 percent are from Central America; the rest are from around the globe including Cambodia, Iran, Colombia, and Peru. Forty-six percent of recipients have children attending U.S. schools.    Cañada College ESL students relax after class. While most SASS recipients are ESL students, a growing number are High School Equivalency (HSE) students, adults who, due to challenges during high school, quit school, then returned to adult school to get a GED or high school diploma and, finally, enrolled in community college.  Stephanie Samson, featured below, is one of those students. SASS recipient beats addiction and enrolls in college SASS recipient Stephanie Samson quit high school when she was 17. The reasons she cites are "depression, panic disorder, substance abuse and addiction." Five years and many hours of rehabilitation later, Stephanie enrolled in Sequoia Adult School to take the classes she needed to get her high school diploma. She received her diploma in June.  This semester she started classes at the College of San Mateo, with a goal of becoming a therapist specializing in addiction and alcoholism. Stephanie Sampson  "I've had to accomplish a lot to get to where I am today," Stephanie says. "First, I had to become sober. Second, I had to earn a high school diploma. And then I had to start college. Given where I was a few years ago, It's hard to believe I've made it this far." Stephanie says that SASS has helped make college possible. "My funds are extremely limited," Stephanie says. "I'm not sure I would be in college if it weren't for the help I get from SASS." In her own words...  SASS recipient Silvia Gomez A highlight of this year's annual fund-raiser, Sampling for Success, Silvia Gomez  was a speech by SASS recipient Silvia Gomez. In her speech she recounted her journey from Mexico to the US and explains the life-changing effects of learning English and continuing her education. Check out her moving five-minute speech here.    Thank you, donors, for your past support! Everything you read here was made possible by your ongoing commitment and dedication to our students. Donate Today!

Sequoia Adult School is part of the ACCEL Regional Consortia in San Mateo County in the Peninsula part of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Sequoia Adult School Scholars, 3481 Janice Way, Palo Alto, CA 94303

New CCAE Scholarship Fund for Adult Ed Students

From CCAE:

When you support Adult Ed, you help adults reach their goals and achieve their potential. Adult education provides a pathway out of poverty into the middle class; it gives students a hand up, not a hand out. CCAE is dedicated to supporting schools in this endeavor by ensuring adequate funding for adult education. However, we need your help in supporting students in the next step - their college journey or their journal into career and technical education. So many have expressed an interest in helping in some way. That's why CCAE has started a Scholarship Fund. Please consider sponsoring a student today by donating to the CCAE Scholarship Fund!

100% of your donation will help students transition to
college or career and technical education.

 

Click here to donate.