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Tutor Brings Wealth of Experience in Adult Education

In addition to tutoring students, Irene has trained and mentored tutors.

Few of Oakland Literacy Council’s tutors are as knowledgeable as Irene Sinclair, who came to the Council with more than four decades of experience in adult education.

Irene received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Adult Education from the State of Michigan in 2009. During her tenure with the Detroit public school district, she oversaw several adult ed learning centers, trained adult ed teachers, wrote curriculum, and taught both foreign-born and native-born adults with low literacy levels. She also served at the state level through appointments to the Michigan ESL Professional Advisory Committee and the Michigan Adult Curriculum Connection.

But Irene lost her job in 2012 when Detroit public schools made an abrupt change in adult education programming. Frustrated, she asked herself what she could do with her knowledge and experience. She decided to reach out to Oakland Literacy Council. “The Oakland Literacy Council welcomed me and provided immediate opportunities to help foreign-born adults learn English,” she says. “This helped ease my feeling of ‘now what?’”

“We are grateful that Irene has been willing to share her wealth of experience with the Council,” says Executive Director Lisa Machesky. “Our tutors are more skilled, and our workforce efforts are stronger, because of Irene.”

She has tutored four English language learners, three of whom have since “graduated” from our program after their reading and listening skills improved.

Irene has led training workshops for other tutors, and she mentors new volunteers individually. She stresses the importance of focused lessons that address a student’s real-life objectives and that utilize different learning styles—oral, visual, written, and kinesthetic. “Everybody learns differently,” she explains. She might use pictures, text, conversation, and role play in a single lesson. Even drawing helps the visual learner, she notes.

“Some tutors worry about boring their students,” she says. “But the student doesn’t get bored. The more we repeat, the happier they are.”

In addition to tutoring and training tutors, Irene has served the Council by helping immigrant job seekers through special workforce efforts. One is a short-term conversation group conducted regularly in partnership with the Michigan Office for New Americans for college-educated professionals who have relocated to Michigan from abroad and who face language barriers to employment. Another was a 12-hour class conducted in partnership with Oakland County Michigan Works.

Throughout her long career, Irene says, she has been fortunate to have work that is intensely satisfying. “Literacy gives people opportunities to live fuller lives,” she says. “That’s my strongest reason for being committed to adult learning.”

Meet Other 35 Faces of Literacy

For over 37 years, the Oakland Literacy Council (OLC) has enabled adult students to achieve individual literacy goals through a partnership with trained volunteer tutors. OLC serves native-English speaking adults who need basic reading, writing, and math skills (adult basic education — ABE), and foreign-born adults who need English reading, writing,  or conversation skills (English Language Learners — ESL).

The Oakland Literacy Council is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 tax-exempt entity that relies on the financial support of individuals, businesses, community organizations, and foundations to fulfill its mission. Your tax-deductible financial gift can be made online, by mail or by Donor-Advised Fund. The Oakland Literacy Council also welcomes gifts of Stock and Legacy Gifts.

In celebration of Oakland Literacy Council’s 35th anniversary, we’ve invited students, former students, tutors, donors, and other advocates to share their stories. Read all of their stories here.

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Oakland Literacy Council 51111 Woodward Ave., Suite 720 Pontiac, MI 48342 (248) 253-1617

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