When did you first start volunteering with The Literacy Council of Frederick County and what made you decide to do so? I started tutoring back in November of 2020 but it seems like only yesterday. I was already retired and was looking for something useful to do with some of my time. I looked up...
When did you first start volunteering with The Literacy Council of Frederick County and what made you decide to do so? I completed my volunteer training in June 2025 after seeing a flyer for the council at a local coffee shop. I’d been searching for a meaningful way to give back to the community, and...
If you’re having trouble figuring out how to put your spare time to good use, consider what Caroline Gaver did in 1975. She became a volunteer with the Literacy Council of Frederick County, and it’s a choice that has come to define a truly well lived life. “I don’t believe it myself,” Caroline Gaver laughs,...
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...
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,”...
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...
Catherine Mock has the kind of resume—from corporate training, running an insurance consulting business and strategic planning, to human resources and volunteer leadership—that makes her a formidable president of the Literacy Council Board of Directors. “I am very excited about my role on the board and to work with people who share my passion” about...
The Literacy Council of Frederick County’s Board of Directors at its June Board Meeting approved its slate of new officers for the coming year fiscal year which begins this month. We are also excited to welcome and introduce our four new members! New officers (from left to right) include President Catherine Mock; Vice-President...
Ed Rose is known among his peers at the Literacy Council for his generosity and heart. In fact, the tutor’s end-of-semester gifts to his students are colorful handmade leather shawls he brings back from his trips to Cotacachi, a little village in Ecuador famous for its handmade leather goods. He is very impressed by how...
When asked to describe her background, volunteer literacy tutor Janet Millward replies, “My background is pretty varied.” This, it turns out, is quite an understatement. “I got my degree in microbiology and worked in the biotech industry for years,” she says. Later, she drew on her “science and writing skills” as a freelance technical writer...
