Loudoun Literacy Council

💌 Gratitude flows from our hearts to our incredible sponsors of the Not Your Kid's Spelling Bee You've Got Maids of Northern Virginia❤️ Your belief in education and community makes this event truly remarkable. Thank you for contributing to young minds' growth and success. 📝🙏
Thank you, You've Got Maids for your Pollinator Sponsorship of our Not Your Kid's Spelling Bee! 🐝

Throwing it back to 2022...

👨‍👩‍👦 2022 was such a great year for us!

Fun fact: In 2022 we provided over 17,000 books and served 2,134 students right here in Loudoun.

In 2023 we are on track to help even MORE children and families with your help and support! If you are looking for ways to help and change the future of children and families right here in our community, send us a message and let's talk!

🐝 THE COUNTDOWN IS ON!! 🐝

Not Your Kid's Spelling Bee is next month!

This DO NOT MISS event features dinner, networking, raffle prizes, silent auction, a live auction, and SO MUCH FUN.

Our 2022 event allowed us to serve over 2,100 adult students and 4,600 children, distributing over 17,000 books into our community!

Become a sponsor or join us for this incredible event on September 30th or... you will miss out on all of the fun!

Visit our website to learn more! 🌐 loudounliteracy.org

NEVER EVER GIVE UP!!

First published in 1930, the classic children’s book, The Little Engine That Could, offers an important message: never give up!

In honor of National Never Give Up Day, here are our top picks for books that help kids put this lesson into practice:

- Inspiring Stories for Young Athletes (Boys Edition)
- Inspiring Stories for Young Athletes (Girls Edition).

These books are perfectly suited for readers in elementary school and they offer helpful introductions and “learned lessons” sections to help kids identify and be inspired by the main lessons learned from each story.

Let us know in the comments below: what is your child’s favorite NEVER GIVE UP story? 📚

Are you ready to make a positive impact in our community? VOLUNTEER! Our volunteers can change the world and we need your help! There are so many ways to get involved and we can tap into YOUR unique strengths when you raise your hand to volunteer with us!

No teaching experience? That's okay, we will train you.

Do you enjoy baking? We need fresh baked cookies for our Family Literacy Nights!

Call us at 703-777-2205 or visit our website, https://loom.ly/u3mzcoQ.

We have a Book Distribution event today at the Dulles South Food Pantry! Join us and browse through the many different book options we are giving away and start building your at-home library today! It's from 2pm - 5pm and we hope to see you there. 📚

👑🐝 Thank you so incredibly much to our Queen Bee Sponsor, NT Concepts!! Without your generous sponsorship, Not Your Kid's Spelling Bee would not be possible.

TASTE Leesburg is happening now!!! Come visit us at booth 412 in front of Shoes, Cup and Cork from now until 10:00pm!

Eventeny
Loudoun Literacy Council

It’s never too early or too late to begin learning! Literacy education can help with employment and poverty prevention. We offer literacy programs for adults that include learning how to read, speak English, prepare for their GED and more! If you are interested, visit our website at https://loudounliteracy.org/adult-literacy-programs/

🥁 We are so excited to introduce you to our Spelling Quizmistress, Elaine Espinola!

Elaine is a multimedia broadcast professional. She is a television producer and host, speaker, spokesperson and international best-selling author. Elaine is a co-host of Great Day Washington on WUSA9 and producer and host of the DMVDineIn podcast. In 2015 Elaine was the reining Mrs. DC America and continues to promote the platform 'Empowerment for Women through Entrepreneurship’ advocating on behalf of small businesses and for the empowerment of women and girls everywhere.

Elaine is an Advisory Board Member for the non-profit, Touching Heart, which teaches children the joy of giving.

A frequent host, emcee and mistress of ceremony to events around the DMV, if you don't catch her on television shows and commercials, you just might see her out and about!

The 5th Annual TASTE Leesburg is set for Saturday, August 12 from 5pm-10pm on the downtown streets of Leesburg. FREE admission! Drink tickets available for beer & wine, from participating breweries and wineries. Food vendors, games, TWO stages and MORE! 🍷🍺

Come visit us at in booth 412 on North King Street to say hi, learn about our mission, class schedules, BEE information and more!

✍🏻 We've extended the registration deadline for ONE MORE WEEK! The last day to register will be August 14.

Don't miss out by registering here: https://loom.ly/2sxcriA

🐝 Are you a trivia lover? How about a spelling wiz? We know just the event for you! Our annual Not Your Kid’s Spelling Bee event will feature both a trivia and spelling bee competition. The event will take place on September 30th. Come test your knowledge while supporting low-income households to begin their book collections!

Visit https://loom.ly/uvHqUOM to learn more!

Children learn a lot in school, but education can be taught beyond the classroom. We have developed family literacy programs and initiatives that partner with the Loudoun County Public schools system, local community organizations, and local non-profits to meet the unique needs of families so parents can promote reading and build their own libraries at home. 🏡

The link below will provide you with opportunities to sponsor our largest event of the year, “Not Your Kids Spelling Bee”, which in turn supports us in our mission to continue supporting and empowering the families of Loudoun County!

https://bit.ly/3NYKSB

Happening NOW at Sterling Community Center from 10:00am-2:00pm!

Come see one of our Adult Literacy Program Coordinators at the Prevention Alliance of Loudoun "PAL" 2nd Annual Summer Wellness Fest!

The event is FREE for all with health and wellness vendors there as well as family friendly entertainment for all ages!

Hope to see you there!

📖 Our organization continues to grow! In 2017, we donated 4,641 books and saw a drastic increase of 17,079 books in 2022. In 2019 we served 670 adults students and saw a quadruple increase to 2,134 adults served in 2022.

With the help of sponsors, we can continue to see this number grow in 2023. Become a sponsor today which will continue providing those in need with a variety of books, classes and literacy resources!

The link below will provide you with opportunities to sponsor our largest event of the year, “Not Your Kids Spelling Bee”, which in turn supports us in our mission to continue supporting and empowering the families of Loudoun County!

https://bit.ly/3NYKSB

We are thrilled to have Monti Mercer as Master of Ceremony for our NOT Your Kid's Spelling Bee!

Monti Mercer is a dedicated science humanitarian who actively advocates for biomedical research and charitable initiatives. With a solid commitment to community service, Mr. Mercer holds various positions in local organizations. He is the Dulles District Trustee with the Loudoun County Public Library, a Board Director with the Loudoun Chamber of Commerce, and immediate past chair of the Board of Directors for Loudoun Cares. Additionally, Mr. Mercer is a STEM Advisory Councilman for the Northern Virginia Science Center Foundation.

In recognition of his contributions and leadership, Mr. Mercer joined Leadership Loudoun in 2019 and was honored as a Loudoun 40 Under 40 recipient in the same year. The Loudoun Chamber also awarded him the Young Professional Leader of the Year in 2023.

Mr. Mercer is an accomplished scholar, obtaining degrees from Hampden-Sydney College, Virginia State University, and George Washington University.

Beyond his professional and academic pursuits, Mr. Mercer has volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation for over 15 years, granting wishes and acting as a wish ambassador. He is also actively involved in local human service-based non-profits and is a religious youth educator and organizer.

Overall, Monti Mercer embodies the values of education, philanthropy, and developing others to positively impact basic scientific and local outreach.

📝 Today is the last day to register for our ELL classes! We are so excited for these classes to begin and we don't want you to miss out, so make sure to register today! Link to register is below:

🌐 https://bit.ly/FallClasses2023

Tomorrow, August 4th, is the last day to register for ELL classes! Don't miss out by registering now using the link below!

🌐 https://bit.ly/FallClasses2023

If you have not already heard, registration for ELL classes is open! Electronic registration is open until August 4th and classes fill up fast, so make sure to register today using the link below!

🌐 https://bit.ly/FallClasses2023

📖 Childhood literacy education is important to us, that’s why we partner with the Head Start & Step Up organizations. Children who grow up in homes with access to books are more likely to reach a higher level of education. Through our partnerships, we are able to help kids receive books while attending fun book parties, weekly reading sessions, mobile classroom libraries, and monthly book packs.

We are always looking for new volunteers! If you’re thinking of volunteering but worried you won’t know how to help us make an impact, don’t! In 2022 alone, we spent 302 hours training our volunteers that were provided over a period of 10 sessions. If you are interested in making a difference and lending a helping hand, sign up now by clicking the link below!

🌐 https://loudounliteracy.org/volunteer/

☀️ With temperatures soaring and kids out of school, the waterpark is the perfect place to spend a lazy summer afternoon. Whether it’s your first or your 40th visit to the waterpark this summer, today is the perfect day to make a trip to your local waterpark in honor of National Waterpark Day💦. And while we’re on the topic of waterparks, here are two summer reads that feature them: Wretched Waterpark by Kiersten White, and Water Parks by Virginia Loh-Hagan.
Readers in middle school who are fans of Goosebumps or A Series of Unfortunate Events will love Wretched Waterpark, which will introduce them to the quirky Sinister-Winterbottom family and their visit to a spooky waterpark. Kids who want to learn more about how waterparks are designed by engineers will enjoy Water Parks.

What’s your favorite waterpark? Tell us about it in a comment below.

Rain or shine, heat or humidity, you will always find our team right where they’re supposed to be! Literacy is not a luxury but a right that everyone should have.

📚 Reading is not only fun, but it is also beneficial to your health. Low literacy is linked to problems with accessing preventive medical care, delayed diagnosis, and following instructions such as prescription labels. It is important to introduce literacy in early adolescence, help us make a change in a child's life!

Support our nonprofit to assist families seeking a better life. Every dollar helps.

Dear Mum and Dad,

You crossed the treacherous ocean and risked your lives – and ours - so that we could live free from terror. So that we could live in safety and have freedoms.

You gave up the best years of your lives – the prime of your youths – to work, tirelessly. To provide the basic dignities of shelter and food, and the promise of the dream of a better future through your emphasis on education and hard work.

I inherited the rewards of your choosing freedom. And one of the terrible prices of freedom is that fear becomes veiled as pragmatism.

There’s more to life than choosing between whether to be a doctor or a dentist. There’s also a life where we get to choose rest and play and adventure.

And I also get that the greatest “adventure” that you’ve ever had, you wouldn’t want to wish upon anyone else, ever. And that this adventure that you took, into the unknown and the unknowable, involved wide open expanses of nature, never-ending, where the landscape was disorientingly unfamiliar to you.

Unrelenting pragmatism is how we survived.

So I get that you don’t get why I seek this out. And it’s ok.

I remember when I showed you my first tent, and you looked at it blankly. I explained hiking, and you looked at me, again blankly. At some point, years later, I looked at historical footage of the refugee camps. Makeshift shelters covered in blue tarps, looking out onto the ocean, backdropped by the jungle. There was no choice involved for you…or for my two-year-old self.

There was terror interspersed with interminable waiting for the outcome of our lives, whose fate was held in the hands of others.

There’s no peacefulness in natural landscape for you.

But for me, there is.

And maybe, on a deeply subconscious level, a part of me is seeking to gain mastery over the hidden terror-filled recesses of my lineage through not just gaining competence in the outdoors, but through finding solace, comfort and joy in the outdoors.

In forever love,
Your wayward daughter,
Linda



Photo: Me @ Lake Hardie – an inland salt-water lake fed from underground salt-water aquifers from when this region was underneath the ocean - in Murray-Sunset National Park, far north-western Victoria. (If I get around to it, I’ll make a separate post about this amazing region.)

📣 Share your educational journey with the world! 📚✨

Are you ready to inspire others with your personal education story? 🎓✨ Loudoun Literacy Council wants to hear from you! Share your incredible journey and celebrate your achievements by submitting your story on our website. 🌟

📝 Check out our new page - we would love to hear your story!🌍❤️

Ready to make an impact? Fill out the form and share your story with us and our community!

https://loudounliteracy.org/share-your-story/

Share Your Story Share your story with Loudoun Literacy Council! Do you have a story you want to share about your education journey? Loudoun Literacy Council would love to highlight it! By submitting a story on the Loudoun Literacy Council website, you can celebrate your education journey and inspire others. Stories...