Learning doesn’t stop once children exit the halls of their schools, just ask the more than 1,500 adults that have benefited from the services of the LearningQuest— Stanislaus Literacy Centers each year.
LearningQuest – Stanislaus Literacy Centers is a non-profit organization that provides free tutoring to adults in the Stanislaus County in the areas of reading, writing, math and English by partnering with the Stanislaus County Library. With the support of almost 250 Central Valley area volunteers in one-on-one tutoring and small classroom instructions, the Center aims to not only provide a good foundational education for adults, but empower them to become contributing members of society.
“It definitely builds the confidence of participants. Many of them have not had a successful experience in school or have been told they can’t do it, so we want to encourage them and overtime they are doing well in subject that they never dreamed they’d be able to do,” said Scott McLeod, senior instructor.
LearningQuest is now expanding its Turlock offerings in order to provide local adults access to their Literacy and General Education Development, or GED, tutoring program through a church-based tutoring program. After being awarded the Catalyst Grant through the Stanislaus Community Foundation to start the program, LearningQuest was able to fulfill their goal to expand options for adults seeking opportunities for literacy tutoring and GED preparation, especially with the recent update of the GED test.
“The GED has changed this year both in curriculum and it is now taken on a computer. The last test was formulated in 2002 and used through 2013. The 2014 test now has more algebra and writing is a bigger factor because they must write across multiple subjects including science, social studies and language arts,” said McLeod. “Not only are we teaching them more advanced types of writing but also how to respond to texts with analytical and evaluative skills.”
Adults of at least 18 years of age are invited to enroll for the twice a week tutoring sessions that will take place at the Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. Participants will be tutoring from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.on Mondays and Thursdays in the areas of reading, writing and math as well as GED preparation. Interested parties can email lqturlock@gmail.com. New students who want to enter after June 30 will be able to enroll the first Monday of each month.
