Adult Literacy Week is an occasion to acknowledge the triumphs of New Brunswick adult learners and to celebrate the importance of life-long learning in our lives.

This year, Adult Literacy Week will be from April 16th to April 22nd! During that time, LCNB will be publishing our ebook of submissions from our Adult Learner’s Writing Contest. We will be opening submissions for the contest soon, so keep an eye on our website and social media for that announcement!

Click here to see our Writing Contest Submissions ebook from 2022!

Did you know that parents’ reading habits play an important role for kids? According to the Kids and Family Reading Report from Scholastic in 2017, 57% of kids who are frequent readers have parents who read books 5-7 days per week.

Family literacy focuses on parents, grandparents, and other family members to improve the reading and writing skills of the whole family (via ABC Life Literacy).

Family Literacy Day is on Friday, January 27th. The theme this year is Celebrate Your Heritage. Canada is a great diverse country full of different cultures. Take time to explore and learn about your heritage, celebrate what you’ve found, and share your culture with others. There’s no better way to learn about your family than together as a family!

One of the best things you can do is speak to a family member about their upbringing. The Literacy Coalition has created a list of questions to help you interview a family member.

Download the interview questions sheet here!

Check out these fantastic resources and activities from ABC Life Literacy:

Barbara Reid Tip Sheet – 10 things to do

Activity Book – 7 fun activities for the whole family

Bookmarks – interview your family and record what you’ve learned on these bookmarks

Our Essential Employability Skills – Health Sector (EES-HS) project has officially concluded. With the end of this pan-Atlantic project, we are excited to release the final report and evaluation.

Following the huge success of our Essential Skills for Atlantic Fisheries (ESAF) project, the Literacy Coalition piloted the Essential Employability Skills – Health Sector (EES-HS) project using the innovative ESAF model.

Led by the Literacy Coalition in partnership with the Newfoundland and Labrador Laubach Literacy Council and  PEI Literacy Alliance, the project prepared unemployed and underemployed participants for in-demand, entry-level positions in the health sector workforce. The goal was to train participants and bring them into entry level worker positions in the health care sector such as laundry, cleaners, servers, kitchen staff, etc.

A website for ESAF and EES-HS has been created. Click here to access it: www.essentialskillsatlantic.ca

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Le projet pilote Compétences essentielles d’employabilité dans le secteur de la santé (CEE-SS) était une initiative de collaboration et d’équipe à l’échelle de l’Atlantique. Le projet novateur CEE-SS a permis de fournir une formation ciblée à des participants sans emploi ou en situation de sous-emploi pour des postes de premier échelon en demande dans le secteur de la santé. Le projet CEE-SS combine des compétences spécialisées et générales pour préparer les participants à combler d’importantes lacunes en matière de main-d’oeuvre.

Le besoin élevé de travailleurs essentiels dans le secteur des soins de santé et dans de nombreux foyers de soins et d’établissements avec assistance est largement reconnu, et de nombreux employeurs ont de la difficulté à combler les postes vacants. La demande de services de soins de santé devrait bientôt dépasser l’offre de ressources humaines. Dans le cadre du projet CEE-SS, on a adopté une approche holistique, en formant à la fois les participants au projet et les gestionnaires du personnel des lieux de travail participants au Nouveau-Brunswick, à Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador et à l’Île-du-Prince-Édouard.

Le projet CEE-SS a été financé par l’Initiative nationale sur les compétences essentielles (INCE) du gouvernement du Canada, et dirigé par la Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick en partenariat, PEI Literacy Alliance et la Newfoundland and Labrador Laubach Literacy Council.

Un site Web pour Compétences essentielles pour les pêches de l’Atlantique (CEPA) et CEES-SS a été créé : https://www.essentialskillsatlantic.ca/fr/

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Click on the links below to read the reports:

• Essential Employability Skills – Health Sector: Final Report
• Compétences essentielles d’employabilité – secteur de la santé (CEE-SS) – Rapport final

• Essential Employability Skills – Health Sector: Best Practices
• Compétences essentielles d’employabilité – secteur de la santé (CEE-SS) – Les meilleures pratiques

• EES-HS Evaluation Report
• CEE-SS rapport d’évaluation définitif

A video of powerful testimonials from the EES-HS participants across the three provinces has been created.

Finally, an infographic in English and French was created for a snapshot view of the entire project.

On October 11^th, The Literacy Coalition held its gala PGI Literacy Dinner and Auction at the Delta Hotel in Fredericton – the first in-person PGI event since 2019. The event raised $38,000 for literacy in New Brunswick.

This year’s recipient of the Champion of Literacy Award was Gaëtan Thomas. While in a lifelong 38-year career at NB Power, Gaëtan has championed learning activities such as a reading program by Point Lepreau employees, the provincial Junior Achievement program, and the “Petits déjeuners de la péninsule acadienne” which ensure that every child gets a breakfast every morning.

The Marian Zaichkowski Award, was presented to Drs. David and Imelda Perley for their outstanding dedication to the promotion of Indigenous literacy and culture. The President’s Award was presented to Delta Hotels by Marriot Fredericton for their exceptional support as host location for our PGI’s and the PGI award went to Gus Mazzuca for his volunteer support and contribution to our PGI events over the years.

As always, a special part of the evening was honouring and hearing from our award-winning adult learners, Afraa Yako, Britny Gould, and Martin Comeau.

“I would like to thank our generous sponsors and all who supported us by purchasing tickets, making donations and attending our gala Dinner and Auction for Literacy. Thanks also to our co-chairs, Bob Scott and Ashley Counsell and the PGI Committee for all of their remarkable efforts in making this year’s event a success,” said LCNB President Brent Melanson.

Lynda Homer, LCNB Executive Director, said ”Since our inaugural Peter Gzowski Dinner and Auction 16 years ago, the Literacy Coalition has raised more than $1.6 million dollars. Funds raised go directly to youth, adult, and family literacy programs around the province.”

While this year may be the final year for the Peter Gzowski name, the Literacy Coalition will
continue to host its major fundraiser for literacy, the Literacy Dinner and Auction, for many
years to come!