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The Charboneau Learning Center A
Program of The Literacy Project 15
Bank Row, Suite D Greenfield,
MA 01302 413-774-3935 www.literacyproject.org/charboneau.html October 2004
Intakes: 6 Intakes that
Attended: 4 Attendance Statistics 12
or more Hours: 25 From 2 to 11.99 Hours: 9 Less than 2 Hours: 5 (24 or more Hours: 15 ) Enrollment Statistics (Numbers and categories reflect
self-reports of enrolled individuals) Enrollment by
Town Enrollment by Age Enrollment by Referral Seeking GED? Deerfield 2 16.00 -- 17.99 11 Agency/Org 10 Yes 33 Erving 1 18.00 -- 24.99 14 Career Center/DET 2 No 6 Com
College 4 Gill 1 25.00 -- 44.99 5 39 Court/Probation 3 Greenfield 25 45.00 -- 59.99 8 Even Start 1 Montague 8 60.00 + 1 Leadership
Training 1 Northfield 1 39 Library 1 Montague
Site 1 Shutesbury 1 Walk-in 1 39 Word
of Mouth 15 39 By Native
Language Enrollment by Race Enrollment by Gender English 36 Black 7 Female 24 Spanish 3 White 32 Male 15 39 39 39 Class
Activities Louise's morning ABE
class continued their biographical writing project. They also continued to work with measurements and fractions. Reading, current events and vocabulary
building are ongoing with more emphasis on the election this month, but also some attention
to everyday science. Louise's morning class also did a
community service project for the MCAE statewide educators
conference and both morning classes participated in a discussion with a
Greenfield City Councilor, Alfred Siano. The morning pre-GED
classes continued units in Language Arts, Science, and Math. In Language Arts the focus was on grammatical constructions
such as Participle phrases, Absolutes, and Appositives. All of them are parenthetical phrases that can add alternate
images or information to a sentence.
They also give practice with commas.
In Science they worked on Protein Synthesis
which involves lots of close reading and the ability to interpret
illustrative graphics. In Math they created graphs - mostly
using Excel. These were interpretive
graphs (pie graphs and bar graphs) as well as coordinate graphs. Now, they're ready to go back to
practicing basic computations with decimals. The Evening GED class
has been very busy with individual writing projects and individualized
Math. At least three evening learners have purchased
books to read while they work on "Word Banks". Both the GED classes continue to work
on "Revision
Checklists for Writers". Successes "Three Make Up
Days" Amber took learners to the Rural
Poverty Conference on Friday October 1.
This was also a "Transitions to College" activity as well as
a striking blow for social change. Joe and Amber took learners to the
Connecticut Renaissance Faire on Saturday, October 2. That was at least 6 hours of learning activities and should count for
two make up days. That takes care of Columbus Day
and the two days we closed down for the MCAE conference. Hired
a Youth Transitions Worker! We are pleased to welcome Amber
Ortiz as into the newly formed position funded by the block grant. She had been doing a terrific job as a work study Outreach worker
and volunteer, and is more than ready for the new responsibilities. We
have plan! We are looking forward to the
challenges of the coming fiscal year armed with a challenging but doable work
plan that focuses on transitioning learners to college
and work. Part of this will require
more attention to those learners who persistently miss 40-80% of their scheduled classes. Another part will involve more
effort and intention in defining and counting success - not only for Smartt
and the block grant, but also for other outreach and grant writing activities. A
Visit from a City Councilor Alfred J. Siano discussed budget
priorities and pressures on the local level with a combined morning
class. He was a good sport and tried to connect his remarks to 1)
. Growth, Development, and the Economy (including change, loss of old factory
jobs, the need for new jobs, retail stores, Wal-Mart, and
high rents), 2. Levels of government under Federalism and their revenue and
spending systems (Federal, State, and Local
systems, taxes, and grants, Constitutions and Charters, Limited Government
and free enterprise, and (3. Politics and Participation
including how the standing agenda for council meetings work and the schedule
of regular meetings which are broadcast on cable access TV. Achievements by
Learners Applied for a
Job 2 Got a job 1 Read a book 1 Received a pay
raise at place of 1 employment Registered for
GED Test 4 Registered to
vote 1 Resume
Completed! 1 Retained new job
for 9+months 1 Counseling 10/2004 Staff: Joe
Panzica Minutes 10/4/2004 Attendance White Male Greenfield 18.00
-- 24.99 10.00 Talked
about the poor attendance over the past many months. This last month had
extenuating family circumstances. But his wife's
changing schedule, his son's changing daycare situation, and his son's hospitalization only explain why his attendance was poor in September
(less than 60%). These circumstances do not explain the previous
months. n July his attendance was only 63%. In June his attendance was 48%. In May his attendance was just under 70% (close enough in a way but .
. . ) In April his attendance was under 50%. I told him and his wife that if attendance October is not over 75%,
then something would have to change. She told me that Welfare was considering pulling him because they were
not seeing enough progress. 10/14/200 Attendance White Male Deerfield 16.00
-- 17.99 5.00 4 Had
a brief conversation about leaving early - and planning out your individual
time so the temptation to leave early does not arise.
(The class goes until 12:15.) 10/14/200 Attendance White Male Montague 16.00
-- 17.99 5.00 4 Had
a brief conversation about leaving early - and planning out your individual
time so the temptation to leave early does not arise.
(The class goes until 12:15.) 10/20/200 Motivations and
Systems White Female Montague 16.00
-- 17.99 10.00 4 She
felt like this class is not run right.
She did not see why people should not be allowed to hang out with friends and avoid school work if they were "only hurting
themselves". (She felt pretty
strong saying this perhaps because she DID do her Group Time assignment more than
adequately today.) I tried to explain that "No Work" = "No Progress"
when it comes to the period TABE testing we have to do - and that too much of that
jeopardizes our funding. I also tried
to explain that people come here to do work, but often NEED positive examples to help them really dig into their own
potential. (She still felt like everybody needs to do their OWN thing. . . .which I agree with EXCEPT that THIS place is a place for WORK and LEARNING and top priority goes to people who are
ready for that.) Total minutes: 30.00 Staff: Louise
Barrows-Mollis Minutes 10/14/200 Health/Medical White Female Montague 45.00
-- 59.99 5.00 4 Signed
herself in to the East Spoke Psych Unit for a few days. Will call when she
can come back. 10/19/200 Educational Black Female Greenfield 16.00
-- 17.99 15.00 4 Was
very disgruntled about the class activity. Said it was stupid and she didn't
care about the election at all. Said she only wanted to work on stuff that interests her. Asked her to
be specific and name something…she said "I don't know...stuff." I told her that if she could
name something she wanted to do, I would get her going on it. After more really bad attitude from her, she said she wanted to
leave. I told her that was not really a good idea and explained how consistent attendance and participation is
necessary to make progress. She called her step-mom and left. Her step-mom called a little later and
was really upset that she had left. Apparently there is a real problem at home with attitude and parents
are concerned that it is carrying over into class. Told her not to worry,
we would try to start again with student tomorrow. Told me that student wants
to move back to Holyoke and that is causing attitude problems. Wants us to contact them with problems…father
wants to put student into DYS lock-up custody. Hopefully we will be
able to iron out the issues and help this Total minutes: 20.00 Volunteers Hours Amber Ortiz 1 ASE Morning 20.00 Audrey Labonte 3 ASE Evening 2.00 Beth-Ann Bascom 1 ASE Morning 3.00 Betty Anselowitz 3 ASE Evening 6.00 Clayton Salem 0 ABE Morning 5.00 Irene Fariss 1 ASE Morning 6.00 John Balchunas 1 ASE Morning 3.25 Keith Jenkins 0 ABE Morning 5.50 Mary Siano 1 ASE
Morning 9.00 59.75 We can never thank these people enough. |