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

                                                           September 2004

         

Total Enrollment:        35                     Number on Waiting List:                                 Total Attendees:     32

          15 days of classes     Class Contact Hours: 762.00     50.8  hours per day     (about   21  learners in classes per day)

 

Intakes:   10                                                                                                     Intakes that Attended:         5

Attendance Statistics

12 or more Hours:  23                                  From 2 to 11.99 Hours:  9                             Less than 2 Hours:  3

(24 or more Hours: 18 )

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             9              Agency/Org                 9               Yes        29

  Erving                      1              18.00 -- 24.99           13              Career Center/DET        1                No          6

                                                                                            Com College                4

  Gill                         1              25.00 -- 44.99             5                                                                           35

                                                                                            Court/Probation            3                              

  Greenfield                23              45.00 -- 59.99             7              Even Start                   1

  Montague                 7              60.00 +                    1              Leadership Training        1

  Northfield                 1                                          35              Library                       1

                                                                                            Montague Site              1

                              35

                                                                                            Walk-in                      2

                                                                                            Word of Mouth           12

                                                                                                                          35

  By Native Language                 Enrollment by Race                   Enrollment by Gender

  English                   32              Black                       5               Female                    24

  Spanish                    3              White                     30               Male                      11

                              35                                          35                                           35

 

 

Class Activities

The Morning ABE class continued to focus on measurements but this month they applied those concepts more to cooking

than to sewing. They also continued to work on their biographical writing.  Math, Reading, and vocabulary building exercises

are ongoing.

 

The Morning pre-GED class started new units in English Language Arts, Math, and Science.  A "Word Form and Usage" unit is

 currently focusing on grammatical constructions that can enhance the vividness of expository or fictional writing (We did

"Adjectives Shifted Out of Order" and "Participle phrases" and will go on to "Absolutes", "Appositives", and "Action Verbs").

  This fits in with Systematic Revisions and a majority of learners have posted "Revision Checklists" to the website.  This

unit is also designed to support "Word Banks" as a learning practice and can be extended to support the learning of school

(and GED) science by providing tools for understanding word roots, stems, and affixes.  The Overview of the Cell unit in

Science which grew out of the Bacteria and Viruses unit for Best Works has lead to a new unit in protein synthesis which

offers more background information on DNA while also giving lots of practice in close reading, table interpretation, and study

skills. (Attention is also paid to word parts.)  In Math they reviewed rules for subtraction (including borrowing over zeros and

with decimal points before starting a Unit on graphing, graph & table interpretation and construction, and using spreadsheet

graph functions. This will extend into some practice with coordinate graphing.

 

The Evening GED Class has been focusing on individual writing projects.  Most of them have done Revision Checklists and

they have also done some of the Word Usage activities.

 

An informal "Sewing Class" was conducted in the afternoons (Monday and Wednesday) by Amber for people who wanted to

sew their own outfits for the Renaissance Faire (a field trip scheduled for October).

Successes

Participated in Youth Roundtable "Healthy Teens/Healthy Community" Booth at Franklin County Fair

Louise, Joe, Amber, and about 5 learners helped staff the booth. This involved engaging the public in an fun quiz about the healthy

choices made by most teens (as revealed in an anonymous survey of local teens).  Staffers also administered a survey about public

perceptions on the current presidential race.

 The booth was chock full of information about health and human services in the area.

The main thrust behind the booth and its activities was "Social Norms Marketing".  An excellent way of combating peer pressure (to

drink, take drugs, or engage in other risky activities) is to prove that such activities are really not as widespread as they are commonly

perceived to be.

Preparation for the Renaissance Faire Field Trip.

Last year we went with only a few learners who by chance were all mature and responsible adults.  This year an incident among the

youth interfered with the ability of many who went to fully enjoy the experience.

What was successful was the preparation.  The two classes cooperated to prepare an excellent Renaissance Feast (Chicken Limonia, Spit

 Roast Meat with Egerdouce Sauce, Ember Day Tarts, followed by an exquisite Rosy Almond Cream for dessert).

The ABE class did all of the menu selection and planning.

With help from Sarah MacKay and Amber, everyone had the opportunity to go in costume.  Amber put our new sewing machine to work

and a few students came by in the afternoon with one of them completing a cape, and the other fabricating a period blouse, bodice,

skirt, handbag, and headgear..

 

Professional Development Activities

  9/17/20  Joe         Teachers Meeting                                                                                                                    2.25

  04

  9/17/20  Louise     Teachers Meeting                                                                                                                    2.25

  04

Volunteers                                                        Hours

    Amber Ortiz                   2 Afternoon Sewing             10.00

    Audrey Labonte               3 ASE Evening                    4.00

    Beth-Ann Bascom           0 ABE Morning                   7.50

    Betty Anselowitz             3 ASE Evening                    6.00

    Clayton Salem                0 ABE Morning                   4.50

    Irene Fariss                   1 ASE Morning                   6.00

    Keith Jenkins                 0 ABE Morning                   5.00

    Mary Siano                    1 ASE Morning                   6.00

                                                                            49.00

  We can never thank these people enough.  They are terrific!

Intake Breakdown

By Town                                  By Age Range                           By Referral                             Seeking GED?

Greenfield                   5             16.00 -- 17.99               4              Agency/Org                    2               Yes        10

Montague                   2             18.00 -- 24.99               4              Court/Probation               2                            10

New Salem                  1             25.00 -- 44.99               1              Word of Mouth               6

Northfield                   2             45.00 -- 59.99               1                                               10

                              10                                           10

By Native Language                  By Race                                  By Gender

English                       8             Black                         2             Female                      6

Somalian                     1             White                        7             Male                        4

Spanish                      1             White, Native American   1                                          10

                              10                                           10

Other ABE Related Service Contacts   (Numbers reflect recorded "interactions" with individuals generally not "yet" in classes)

  By Service Category                                                                                           By Gender

      Seeking Services Inquiry    10                                                                                   Female                        12

      Pre-Test Given                8                                                                                   Male                          11

      Intake Appt Made            5                                                                                                                   23

                                       23

  By Town                                                 By Age                                                By Race

       Bernardston                   1                          16.00 -- 17.99                 4                       Black                           2

       Greenfield                    13                          18.00 -- 24.99               12                       IndianSub                      1

       Montague                     3

                                                                    25.00 -- 44.99                 3                       White                         20

       New Salem                    1

       Northfield                     3                          Not Recorded                 4                                                       23

       Not Recorded                 2                                                          23

                                       23

  Community Contacts

  Court/Probation          1

  Individual/Family        3

  Public School             1

Social Service               3

  Student Comments this Month

  9/7/2004                           1 ASE Morning                     Female                                 18.00 -- 24.99

  I think I should participate more and ask more questions in the next few days.

  9/7/2004                           1 ASE Morning                     Female                                 45.00 -- 59.99

  I like the idea of a[n] essay in a month's time.  This will work for me.

  9/7/2004                           3 ASE Evening                      Female                                 18.00 -- 24.99

  Today was my first time on a computer.  I feel really good about myself.  For some reason I always wanted to do

  something diff[e]rent.  I tried.  I want to know more on computers.

  9/9/2004