After years of travelling between Russia and the United States, Natta decided to leave everything she knew in Moscow and move in with her daughter here in Frederick. It was 2023, and the war between Russia and Ukraine was making travel increasingly difficult. “The relationship between America and Russia was getting worse,” Natta said. “One...
Natta may have left her native Russia to live with her daughter in Frederick during the war with Ukraine, but these days it’s an earlier war she’s thinking about: World War II. She’s remembering her father, who served as a soldier for the Soviet Union and helped liberate Berlin from the Nazis when he was...
We invite you to meet Allison, our featured staff member this month. Allison grew up in Frederick County and brings empathy to her role as Program Coordinator. Learn more about her path towards nonprofit work in her own words in this month’s Staff Spotlight vlog. We would like to thank our volunteer, Shira K., for all the...
If you’re having trouble figuring out how to put your spare time to good use, consider what Caroline Gaver did in 1975. She became a volunteer with the Literacy Council of Frederick County, and it’s a choice that has come to define a truly well lived life. “I don’t believe it myself,” Caroline Gaver laughs,...
Ralph DeRose is a partner in Oscar’s Alehouse, a group of restaurants in Maryland that has built its success by creating family-friendly spaces where customers enjoy “top-notch food and service,” he says. Another ingredient in the restaurants’ success, Ralph notes, is a policy of giving something back to patrons’ communities whenever possible. In the restaurant...
The Literacy Council Book Club is organized by Catherine Coundjeris, who volunteers in many roles with the Literacy Council including as an instructor, ESL coordinator, and co-editor of the council’s literary magazine Reflections: Voices of English Learners. The club meets twice a year, in winter and summer. The Winter book club met for four sessions and engaged...
On February 27th, I gathered with about 40 other members of the Frederick community to hear learners with the Literacy Council read aloud their stories, which had just been published in the 7th edition of the Reflections magazine. The stories we heard came from around the world. One told of a hard-working mother in Honduras...
Hello! My name is Tetiana. I moved to the USA from Ukraine two and a half years ago. Naturally, like most people, I faced difficulties related to not knowing English. In Ukraine, I worked as a speech therapist, and speech has always been my strong point. Therefore, when I came to America, I felt like...
Since JinJin, one of our writers in our Reflections magazine, started working with the Literacy Council, her journey has been “a series of beautiful moments” inspired by her children. This is how she describes it: From being shy and unsure of how to express myself to becoming fluent and confident, I take pride in the...
How very strange—and wonderful— it is to realize that, after working at something for most of your adult life, you still have the capacity to learn. I am someone who avoids too much introspection, but that changed when, after a long career as an editor and writer, I retired from the Smithsonian Institution. Anyone...
