The Teton Literacy Program provides one-to-one assistance for learners of any age seeking to expand their literacy skills.

Nationally, over 40 million American adults demonstrate low English literacy levels, according to the National Institute for Literacy. Adult Learners at the TLP come from myriad backgrounds: some are Jackson natives who wish to increase their skills in spelling and writing; others have relocated from Eastern Europe, Asia or Latin America, and seek to develop their English. The most visible group of immigrants is Latinos, who comprise 12% of Teton County's population. Sixty percent have little to no English proficiency.

Volunteer tutors provide literacy-focused education to Adult Learners. Tutors work with functionally illiterate adults, as well as English Language Learners for two hours a week for at least six months. The Teton Literacy Program offers tutor training sessions for volunteers, providing training, information, support and workshops. Initial training focuses on topics such as second language acquisition, adult learning theory, basic teaching techniques, lesson planning, and student assessment. The program also requires tutors to observe an English class and take an online course through the Verizon Literacy Campus website. Specialized training is offered for tutors who work with Native English Speakers who have needs unique from English Language Learners. Throughout the year, tutors can supplement their knowledge and gain additional teaching skills by participating in tutor workshops and informal “talk time” where tutors exchange ideas and information.

For information about classes, class registration, recruitment, volunteering, individual utoring, or scheduling, contact the Director of Adult Services at (307) 733-9242.

The Teton Literacy Program is excited to start a Language Exchange Program. This program will be a restructure of the adult tutoring program. Teton county’s community members are looking into reducing language barriers amongst speakers of different languages. In the past Teton Literacy Program has received an increasing amount of phone calls asking about the possibility for a language exchange. Native English speakers as well as native Spanish speakers have expressed interest. Additionally the community started an initiative to reduce language barriers. Reducing language barriers means in a proactive way improve communication. Language instruction is one way to reach this goal. TLP has instructed English as a second language for a long time. In September 2007 we made the next step towards improved communication with the implementation of adult Spanish classes. The community’s interest was so big that now in January 2008 we are able to offer four different Spanish classes. By the end of February TLP will accept applicants for a language exchange program. Every week around 80 Spanish learners and 80 English learners walk through our doors. Why shouldn’t we get these learner’s together to help each other? A language exchange is the obvious next step to further communication between Spanish-speaking and English-speaking community members. It is a step that will not only reduce language barriers but also cultural barriers. TLP’s language exchange program will provide an egalitarian format in which Spanish learners and English learners teach each other about language and culture. To really improve awareness of the target culture as well as to have more practice time, students need to interact with someone from the target culture, an exchange partner. Changing the tutoring set-up into a language exchange program will provide better chances for cultural integration and exchange – aspects we cannot incorporate in the same manner in our ESL classes. Language exchange allows for improving conversational skills in an informal setting. It would add the missing practice time and the integration aspects to our existing language program. Volunteer options are still available with the adult program. If you are simply interested in spending your time assisting students to improve their English you can still do this. TLP is always happy to have assistants in the classrooms and to connect tutors with students. The language exchange program is open to intermediate students of any language. We require intermediate language skills to ensure some possible communication. For students with less language skills TLP provides enhanced support with two level 1 English classes and three level 1 Spanish classes. Due to the greater amount of English language learners we serve we require English students to complete one of our classes with 80% attendance. At this time we don’t require Spanish learners to complete a class. In the future we are hoping to expand beyond English and Spanish. Recently we have worked with students from many different nationalities and will be able to find exchange partners for several different languages. At the moment we have Spanish-speaking, Chinese, Portuguese, Polish, Nepali and German students in our program. For more information about the program call Mareike Fitz at (307) 733 9242 ext. 226.

Adult Student Information Form	PDF	Word Document
Adult Tutor Log	PDF	Word Document
Volunteer Form	PDF	Word Document
Student Form	PDF	Word Document
Tutor Log	PDF	Word Document

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