The Literacy Council Book Club is organized by Catherine Coundjeris, who volunteers in many roles with the Literacy Council including as an instructor, ESL coordinator, and co-editor of the council’s literary magazine Reflections: Voices of English Learners. The club meets twice a year, in winter and summer. The Winter book club met for four sessions and engaged...
On February 27th, I gathered with about 40 other members of the Frederick community to hear learners with the Literacy Council read aloud their stories, which had just been published in the 7th edition of the Reflections magazine. The stories we heard came from around the world. One told of a hard-working mother in Honduras...
How very strange—and wonderful— it is to realize that, after working at something for most of your adult life, you still have the capacity to learn. I am someone who avoids too much introspection, but that changed when, after a long career as an editor and writer, I retired from the Smithsonian Institution. Anyone...
The Literacy Council is again honored to be one of 37 nonprofit organizations participating in the Unity Campaign for Frederick County, hosted by United Way of Frederick County. The Unity Campaign supports the over one in three households in Frederick County that struggle to afford basic human necessities! The campaign is focused on funding programs directly supporting the health,...
Matthew can speak more than ten languages. They reveal the adventurous journey he has taken through several countries. Born in Benin, a country in West Africa, he learned French and five local languages. He picked up three more languages in the neighboring country of Togo. When he moved to South Africa, he learned Afrikaans and...
Matthew, 52, was a long way from Frederick when he first began a journey that would ultimately bring him through our doors at the Literacy Council. Matthew was born in Benin, a country in West Africa. Jobs aren’t easy to come by in Benin, but Matthew was good at making work for himself. At a...
A native of Venezuela, Magda came to the United States seven years ago. “In my home country I was an insurance broker for 43 years,” she says. It wasn’t long before the retiree was eager to begin fully engaging in her new American life. After hearing about the Literacy Council from a friend who was...
Catherine Coundjeris’ love of words and writing has been a constant in her life, from her days teaching college students the art of writing to her decision to share her passion for literacy with students needing help learning the basics. “After moving to Frederick, I sought out the Literacy Council Of Frederick County in 2011,”...
We invite you to meet Patrik, our featured student this month in our “Learner Spotlight”. Patrik came to the Unites States from Cameroon in January 2023. His mother-in-law introduced him to the Literacy Council of Frederick County in March 2023. He was matched with his tutor Cyndi M. and the two developed a special bond. Patrik...
The Literacy Council has been quietly growing its English-language instruction to parents of children in Frederick County Title 1 elementary schools. Founded in 2017 with three schools, the Parent Literacy Program has now doubled the size of its reach to six schools, and last year, helped 70 parents learn how to speak, write, and read...
