If there’s one thing about the Florida Literacy Coalition that stands out above all others, it’s their commitment to sharing information and helping their friends get better at what they do. I was recently given the opportunity to attend Florida Literacy Coalition’s 10th Annual Leadership Institute—and they sure did share a lot!
From volunteer management to developing funds, from best practices to new GED standards, I came back to the Adult Literacy League with pages of notes and handouts. Our staff and volunteers are very keen on professional development and staying up with the current trends, so everyone was very appreciative of all the information I passed along. Our Executive Director loves to hear anything from the amazing Neil Sturomski, our Development Director got some tips and tricks about fund cultivation, and our social media volunteers are starting to understand how we could use Pinterest in our communications plan.
But some of the most pertinent information was about the new 2014 GED—which will revolutionize how we serve our students. We currently offer four free classes a week for GED Preparation and see an average of 5-6 students per class. As they work hard to study up on some difficult subjects, they now see an even more difficult deadline because the test will change in January 2014. And we’ll have to change with it.
The new 2014 GED will be all computer-based. Luckily we have an upgraded mobile laptop computer lab, but we’ll need to also upgrade how we teach. Passing along information from the Leadership Institute has sparked ideas and creativity from our current GED instructors, who are thinking of ways to incorporate technology into their lessons. Information and resources from the Leadership Institute have been a very nice start to this process, and I know the Florida Literacy Coalition will be there to share more information and continue to help us get better at what we do!
Zach is the Volunteer Coordinator with the Adult Literacy League.
