Adrian Rea Literacy Center

Come out to our open house! Now until noon!

https://artsandculture.google.com/project/uslatinocultures/arts
Happy National Hispanic Month — Sept 15-Oct 15!
Click on the Google link Honoring Latinidad & Latino Diversity with the Smithsonian Museum of the American Latino.

Join the Adrian Rea Literacy Center Board, staff, tutors, and learners for an Open House at ARLC on Saturday, September 30th, from 10am to noon. Get a "taste" of our center with a morning cup of tea and a cookie. If you are curious about The Literacy Center, this is a great opportunity to come see our building and meet us!

Tutors: take a look at this video presentation of the sound "th" as in Think. This video is one of many that teaches phonetic sounds. If necessary, you can slow down the video (I recommend 75%) and change the subtitles to a different language. If you have any questions, please see Vicki.

american sound of th - Bing video

Here is what tutor, Laurie, has to say about her experience at the Adrian Rea Literacy Center: "I have been a tutor at the ARLC for over two years. I have lived in Lenawee County my whole life and did not know that the Literacy Center existed until I saw an ad on Facebook. I decided to look into volunteering there. Once I learned the about the program and experienced the training I was impressed with the program and humbled by the impact of what the Literacy Center has done for so many adult learners. The Center teaches adults English, how to improve language skills and communication, and teaches reading and writing. It empowers each learner to become literate and independent. When I volunteered here I wanted to help others with these important skills and it has been such a fantastic experience! Everyone is focused on helping each other. My learner and I have developed a special friendship and not only have I fulfilled my goal of helping others, this experience has been life changing for me. I am so grateful to be a volunteer at the Adrian Rea Literacy Center!"

School is starting in the next week for most of Lenawee County--Why not start something new yourself: consider volunteering as a tutor at the Adrian Rea Literacy Center! You do not need to be a teacher--we will train you and provide the materials. Volunteer tutors meet one-on-one with an adult learner for a two-hour session each week.

Discover what it means to be a tutor at the Adrian Rea Literacy Center by visiting our website! Still have questions? Give us a call at 527-264-7320.

Tutors | Adrian Rea Literacy Center A Place for You to Tutor Give the gift of reading and change a life! Interested in becoming a tutor? We are seeking volunteer tutors to help adults 18 and older achieve their goals of learning to read, write, and speak English. One-to-One Tutoring Tutors work one-to-one with both first language Engl...

In recognition of National Book Lovers Day, a reminder that we have books available at the Literacy Center for our learners to read and/or listen to. We have books available to take home and read to children. We have many generous donors who supply us with books to give away! Celebrate today by reading a book!

One of our learners— after returning from a trip home to Guadalajara, Mexico— commented that mornings in Michigan are “fresh,” compared to the all day heat of his hometown. Enjoy another fresh Michigan morning!

Look at the lovely bouquet our learner, Montserrat Vargas, gave us for Mother's Day! Mother's Day, or Día de las Madres, is celebrated every year on the same date: May 10.
Thank you, Montserrat, and Happy Mother's Day to all our learners, tutors and supporters!

We would love to take the opportunity during Teacher Appreciation Week to thank our wonderful tutors! Thank you for your commitment to helping someone learn to read, write and speak in English! We are so grateful for you!

We would love to thank you for this wonderful donation, but we don’t know who you are! We received a box of books from Barnes and Noble without any sender information! Was it you?? Thank you!

The Adrian Rea Literacy Center will be closed on Thursday, February 23.

Take a look at our newest newsletter! In it you will find all of the stories that our learners and tutors wrote to celebrate heritage! Scroll down the website for a link to a PDF of our newsletter!

About Us | Adrian Rea Literacy Center A Place for Tutoring…A Place for Adult Learning… A Place for You! Purpose Statement The purpose of the Adrian Rea Literacy Center, located on the Adrian Dominican Sisters Motherhouse campus, is to provide a facility where adult learners can experience a supervised quality literacy program in a w...

“I am from Morelia, Mexico. I love my city. It has many beautiful gardens and flowers.” GL

“I am going to write about Christmas – a very beautiful family tradition. In December we start decorating our Christmas tree and on the 24th we get up early. My children help me prepare dinner. We go to mass. After mass we all have dinner as a family, eating our delicious and traditional pozole with tostados. After we have dinner, we open a few presents, watch movies and play lottery or bingo.” AB

“My mother-in-law is Italian. Her parents passed through Ellis Island as young adults (separately), and met and married in the U.S.
As we know, Italians love to cook and to eat. When my stepson graduated from high school, he requested Grandma’s meatballs and manicotti for his party. We spent a whole day making food, and every family member helped. Everything had to be made by hand. The food was a big hit, and everyone raved about it. I think there was more eating than talking that day, but no one seemed to mind.” SD

“My paternal grandparents were proud of their heritage as citizens of the United Kingdom. My grandfather’s family was from Scotland and he proudly carried the last name Macbeth (a former king of part of Scotland).
My grandmother’s family was English. One particular tradition she gave our family was what is know as ‘Sunday dinner’, aka ‘Sunday Roast’. In the UK, Sunday dinner was always roast beef, potatoes with onion gravy, veggies and Yorkshire pudding. Today it is our standard Christmas Day dinner.
Yorkshire pudding may not be what you would immediately think. It is a side dish that is similar to a popover, but could also be compared to a mini souffle. Yorkshire pudding is made from a batter of eggs, flour, milk and salt that is baked at a high temperature until the top ‘pops’. The trick is in keeping the top from deflating before serving it with a generous amount of gravy. Mmmm … delicious!“ PP

“Both of my parents are first generation Americans. My dad’s parents were born in Ireland and my mom’s parents came to the USA from Poland. Each Christmas we would celebrate the holiday with my mom’s siblings (2 sisters and 2 brothers) and their families. We looked forward to our Christmas meal and favorite recipes. I can remember a wood stove that helped keep things warm. A sacred part of this gathering was a forgiveness prayer which my grandfather began. The joy and smells of favorite foods are held in our memories.” SVC

“I went to Rosary High School, an all-girls Catholic High School in Detroit. I had to ride two busses to get there, and one bus only came once an hour, so if you missed it, there was a long wait or a 3½ mile walk home. My freshman class was very big, about 205 girls. I only knew one other girl in my class, and my older sister in the sophomore class. I was very nervous and lonely for my friends from my local school. But I soon made friends and I loved the teachers and nuns who taught my classes. My favorite parts of school were my art classes, drama and choir. I enjoyed being in my high school musicals and performing for choir concerts. I just recently celebrated my 50th class reunion – what a trip down memory lane!” JH

“I am of Polish, Russian, and German heritage. My great-grandfather, on my mother’s side of the family, emigrated from Russia and my father’s parents came from Germany. Growing up, my grandmother used to play German music for me. I also enjoy Polish food.” BL

“I lived with my parents in Mexico. At the age of 6 years I started going to school 7 days a week. I was the only student to graduate from 8th grade. The classes started at 8am. I took a break at 11:30 for lunch. I finished my classes at 1pm. After classes, I took care of animals every day. I had chickens, dogs, sheep, and horses. Also, sometimes in the afternoons I had sports with my friends.” HM

“My ancestors came from Ireland, England, and Germany. Even though I never met her, I feel connected to my great-great-grandmother who came here from Ballymena, Ireland at age 16 in 1873. My family has the wooden trunk, a doll, blanket, and earrings which she brought with her. These treasures are being passed from generation to generation. At Christmas time my German grandmother baked Lebkuchen cookies. My mother learned how to bake them because they were my dad’s favorite cookies. Now my sister carries on that tradition and bakes Lebkuchens for the holiday season.” SS

“The state of Chiapas is a very large state that has 124 municipalities with 12 indigenous languages of different customs and traditions.
The people of my town worked in agriculture. They planted corn, beans, squash, coffee, bananas, etc. for their self-consumption and to sell.
The women were artisans. They would weave and embroider well-known traditional clothing from the town and still do.” NM

“In the Hungarian culture, on the Feast of the Three Kings, Jan. 6, my grandmother would make biscuits (like bismarcks). In three of them she would place a quarter, a dime or a nickel. The persons who chose one of those would be one of the kings.” SJF

“In Mexico the tradition is to play soccer. In my family the tradition is to eat Mexican food on September 15. Another nice tradition is to give the first name to the first son of the father.” RB

“I was raised in a proud Irish-American home. Every celebration included a nod to our Irish heritage. On Christmas, we listened to Christmas music as well as traditional Irish folk music as we gathered with aunts, uncles and cousins in my grandparents’ basement.
We celebrated St. Patrick’s Day - first with green dyed food – then as a family weekend getaway at a hotel. We would rent a block of rooms so that the entire family could spend the weekend celebrating together.
It was a dream come true to travel to Ireland with my family and see where my family came from. We even visited a pub that existed when my grandfather’s family lived in the area. I grew up believing that I was lucky enough to be Irish, so I was lucky enough.” VS

“I grew up in a traditional American family. Although my DNA tells me I am 50% English/Irish with a mix of other nationalities, we did not celebrate any cultural traditions, except what came from a traditional American Protestant culture.
Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter were always celebrated with family gatherings and the traditional foods, turkey at Christmas & Thanksgiving and ham on Easter.
As I’ve gotten older I have read and studied my Irish heritage and I’m learning to cook more Irish dishes – soda bread, shepherd’s pie, scones, etc.
My husband’s mother was from Sweden and we do incorporate Swedish foods in our celebrations – Swedish limpa is always served at holiday gatherings. My husband bakes St. Lucia buns to give to guests who visit during the Christmas season.” FK

Chinese Hian Culture
“Just like Americans celebrate Christmas, in China, we celebrate the Spring Festival as our largest festival. This festival originally comes from an ancient Chinese legend of ‘Hian’ – a ferocious beast believed to feast on human flesh on New Year‘s day. However, people discovered that Hian feared the color red, fire, and loud noises. So red paper decorations were pasted to doors. Lanterns were burned all night and firecrackers were lit to frighten the beast away.
According to legend, the Spring Festival is also called ‘Guo Nian’, which means surviving the Hian’s attack. Red has become the most popular color for festival celebration and dressing code.” XJ

“Born in Glasgow, Scotland on February 13, 1917, my father entered the United States without papers when he was about six years old. His mother had simply walked across the Canadian border in Buffalo, New York with her three sons to join her husband who was working in Detroit. My grandfather had come ahead, secured a job and then sent money back so his family could join him in the states.
After serving in the US. Navy, my dad received his citizenship as did all veterans who needed papers. I came along after my father married a U.S. citizen and am considered a ‘Baby Boomer’ since I was born in 1946 just after World War II ended. Then he went to night school and earned his high school diploma when I was around four years old.
As I grew older, I began to pay more attention to the stories my father told about Christmas in Scotland. Because his family had little money, they often shared one apple or one orange. However, on Christmas morning each brother got his very own apple and orange for himself. Dad said it was the only time he had them ‘All to himself’. Now, as an adult in my 70's, whenever I eat an apple or orange, I always feel fortunate to have one ‘All to myself’.” GL

“Venezuela is a very beautiful country and has fun traditions. The National dance of Venezuela is the Joropo, which is danced with the typical costume called the Liquilique. We also celebrate Carnival in February, Holy Week, Easter, and different parties to venerate the patron saint of Venezuela, the Virgin Coromoto.
In Venezuela we hear different music according to the States and the months. In December we hear the Gaitas (Zulia State), and the Aguinaldos, a tribute to the child God.
Our national food is the Pabellon Criollo (shredded meat with white rice, fried ripe plantain and black beans). Our star food is the Arepa, made with yellow or white corn flour, grilled or fried and with different meat fillings as well as eggs, cheeses, and sauces.
In December we celebrate Christmas and the end of the year having dinner with Hallaca, similar to a large tamale stuffed with meat, olives, raisins, egg and wrapped in banana leaves accompanied by chicken salad and ham bread and the dessert is sweet o Papaya. The neighbors exchange the hallacas. Venezuelans are happy people despite adversity.” YM & MG

“Do you remember the last time you had dinner with your family?
One of the oldest traditions I can remember is having dinner at a big table in the company of all my family, or at least most of it. That tradition, I think, is the most important because it involves most members of the family. This tradition is getting lost with the new generation. So, we have to make an effort to keep it alive.” EP

“I came to the United States when I was 20 years old. My goal was to help my parents come to America and live near me. By the time I was 30, I had my citizenship. In those 10 years I studied hard to be able to pass the citizenship test. You see my father was a laborer and worked from 6am to 7pm. My mother worked at home sewing for a large company from 4am to 7pm. I was the oldest of 10 children and we all wanted a better way to live from day to day.
I came to the Adrian area along with 2 younger brothers. We worked hard and sent money back to our parents. Over the next 10 years we were able to get our entire family to the USA. We have our parents to thank for teaching us good work habits and what it means to be from a loving family. I am proud to be part of a Wonderful Latino Family!” BA

Day of the Dead Celebration in México:
“It is a celebration in which deceased loved ones are remembered, putting a picture of that person on the offering or altar, with your favorite food and drinks. On November 2 of each year, the Day of the Dead is celebrated in México.
The Day of the Dead in México represents the return of the souls of the deceased who return home to the world of the living to be with their families and share those smells and flavors of their favorite foods.” CDC

“I have lived in the United States for 18 years. One of the traditions in my little town in Mexico starts on Oct. 28 and finishes on November 2nd. It is important because I can celebrate and remember my parents and other family who are not with me anymore. It is called the Day of the Dead.” AM

“For my family on Christmas Eve it is a tradition to make punch. Punch is a drink that takes tamarind, cane, apples, guava, mandarin oranges, cinnamon, and sweet piloncillo (brown sugar). We also make tamales.” JA

“Christmas Eve someone prepares a traditional punch. The family gathers together. Everybody brings a dish of food to share.
This is traditional food for the day. The food is chicken with molé, rice, tamales and many others. Everybody brings a present for someone. We open the presents, we eat, talk, and have a lot of fun.” MP

“My childhood stomping grounds began in small-town America during the 50’s. I remember well my sister and I around the RCA radio to hear the adventures of cowboys, gunfighters, pioneers, and lawmen. The tales captured my imagination of what life in the Wild West might be like. It was my foundation to develop imagination and dream about the world beyond our reach without a screen.
We also read many books and proudly used our World Book Encyclopedias to expand our horizons. To this day, books are my friend.” KK

“My Dad was the youngest of 13 children. He grew up on farms and grew up with many of his siblings’ children. He had a happy childhood and always smiled when he shared memories about his childhood. He loved to be around his family. The more people the better as far as my Dad was concerned. He talked fondly about his Mom’s cooking, everything from scratch.
We had family reunions every summer I can remember. The food was plentiful but the following dishes had to be brought every year – macaroni and cheese, baked beans, fried chicken and butterscotch pie. I loved family reunions and was so happy to see my Dad with all his family. Over the years, as life goes on, his siblings passed away and my Dad as well 12 years ago. The reunions kept going until this year when the last of my Dad’s siblings passed away at the age of 95. I’m hopeful the younger generation can continue the family reunion in the future.” LC

"I was born in Alabama on March 22, 1968. I am the first of two girls. I have a twin sister. I am 4 minutes older than my sister. Her name is Nina. We do not look alike. We are not identical. We are paternal twins." TD

“I have lived 23 years in the USA. I’m accomplishing the American dream during this time. I have formed a family - my husband and my daughters. To be able to accomplish my dream I had to leave my family back home in Mexico. On September 16, 2022, I thank God that I was able to see and hug my dad after 18 years. I thank God for that gift!” FR