October 19, 1998
Middlebury College’s Page 1 Bicentennial
Literacy Project to Celebrate National Literacy Action Week from
Oct. 25-31
Middlebury College’s Page 1 Bicentennial
Literacy Project will participate in National Literacy Action
Week from Sunday, Oct. 25 through Saturday, Oct. 31 as part of
its ongoing promotion of literacy in Addison County. National
Literacy Action Week events on campus and throughout the local
community include informational opportunities for adults, celebratory
events for children, and public service efforts performed by Middlebury
College students. Most events are free and open to the public.
The Page 1 Bicentennial Literacy Project
was designed as a way for Middlebury College to celebrate, through
public service events with the larger community, its 200th birthday.
During National Literacy Action Week, students will clean and
paint at Vermont Adult Learning in Middlebury, a non-profit organization
focused on adult basic literacy, life skills, and career preparation.
Other student volunteerism during the week will include sessions
with children to explore the joys of reading at the Ripton Elementary
School and the Weybridge School.
Page 1 will also host public events
throughout National Literacy Action Week:
On Monday, Oct. 26 from 10 a.m. to
11:30 a.m. a community information meeting will be held at Kirk
Alumni Center on Golf Course Road off South Main Street (Route
30). All are welcome.
Later that day at 4:45 p.m. in the
Redfield Proctor Room, a Vermont Adult Learning representative
will talk about literacy issues. Redfield Proctor is located
in Proctor Hall on Hepburn Road, off College Street (Route 125).
The lecture is free, and refreshments will be served.
Tuesday, Oct. 27 will be a day of storytelling.
At 4 p.m. in the lounge of Gifford Hall, Vermont author Phoebe
Stone will share her writings, including her children’s book What
Night Do the Angels Wander? Gifford Hall is on Hepburn
Road off College Street (Route 125).
Also on Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
there will be a coffee house/international storytelling event
in the Gamut Room, located in the basement of Gifford Hall on
Hepburn Road. Participants are encouraged to bring stories from
different countries and cultures around the world. Tuesday’s events
are free.
Friday evening from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.
there will be an open mic at the Middlebury College Grille for
poetry, stories and readings. The Grille is located in McCullough
Student Center on the main campus. Admittance is free.
Saturday, Oct. 31 at 10:30 a.m. a three-mile
“literacy fun run” will begin at Twilight Park, on College
Street (Route 125). The running route will loop through the cross
country trail behind the College’s field house, and return to
Twilight Park for free refreshments. Participants should arrive
by 10 a.m. to register. Registration is $6 and will include a
complimentary Page 1 “fun run” t-shirt.
On Saturday, Oct. 31 from 1 p.m. to
5 p.m. Page 1’s “Trick or Treating & Reading” will
offer parents and children four locations for storytelling, mask-making,
and other Hallowe’en activities: the Ilsley Library, Vermont Book
Shop, Otter Creek Used Books and the Swift House Inn. The afternoon’s
grand finale will be at the Swift House Inn with pumpkin-painting,
refreshments and a costume parade around the grounds at 4 p.m.
Saturday’s activities are free.
The National Institute for Literacy
reports that more than 20 percent of adults read at or below a
fifth-grade level-far below the level needed to earn a living.
In 1993, the National Adult Literacy Survey reported that approximately
24 percent of adults in Addison County are not functionally literate-they
do not have the skills required to read road signs, fill out job
applications, or read basic stories to their children. Further
research indicates that patterns of literacy, illiteracy, and
under-education are intergenerational issues-a child’s literacy
level is strongly linked to the educational levels of their parents
(National Institute for Literacy). The Page 1 Literacy Project
encourages all members of the Middlebury community to join in
the promotion of literacy and reading through volunteerism and
donation of books to local organizations.
For further information, contact student
organizers Abby Stoller at (802) 443-7277, Jill Anderson (802)
443-6002; or Elana Wilson (802) 443-7321.