Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
In Indiana, approximately one Hoosier adult in six can't read well enough to read a Bible, a driving manual, the instructions on a bottle of aspirin or this newspaper.
In Kosciusko County, the odds improve - 10 percent, or one in 10, of adults are at the lowest level of literacy; in Warsaw, that number is 13 percent, or approximately one in eight.
Helping everyone in this area to read is the goal of Kosciusko Literacy Volunteers of America, and getting the organization's message out was the purpose of the Community Awareness Breakfast Thursday at the Ramada in Warsaw.
KLV's latest push is a new workplace literacy program, in which tutors and/or teachers work with companies to teach English as a second language to employees from other countries. Sessions are scheduled around work shifts and breaks.
"ESL is not the only barrier. There's always something to learn," said Kathy Hamman, KLV public relations director. "Eventually we want to branch out from ESL in the workplace to basic literacy."
The pilot program, which will involve 12 to 14 employees at Warsaw Coil, will provide 19-1/2 hours of tutoring for ESL per week, Hamman said.
"Nineteen and a half hours isn't going to change everything, but it will make a dent," she said.
Being able to read is a must, said Indiana Sen. Kent Adams, speaker at the breakfast. "In the world we live in today, we need tools that amplify the mind instead of muscle."
And, referring to English as a second language, he said, "I can tell you we need to change that to English as a first language."
Adams said Indiana's total budget is $19.5 billion; of that, 56 percent, or $10.9 billion, goes toward education. Still, he said, Indiana is 31st in the nation for adult illiteracy; 23 percent of Indiana 12th graders, nearly one in four, don't reach their reading level; 45 percent, almost half, of 10th graders don't pass the ISTEP+ graduation exam; and Indiana is 50th in the United States - last - in the proportion of labor force employees who are in specialty professions that require credentials, such as engineers, teachers, lawyers, accountants or health specialists.
Adams urged people to volunteer and to get involved, and cited the need to help everyone become literate. "Our future depends on it," he said.
