Category: <span>News</span>

Oscar’s Alehouse Supports Local Workforce with Workplace Literacy Program
March 19, 2025March 19, 2025
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Oscar’s Alehouse Supports Local Workforce with Workplace Literacy Program

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...

Voices of English Learners: Reflections on Language & Growth
March 5, 2025March 13, 2025
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Voices of English Learners: Reflections on Language & Growth

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...

Life After Retirement: A Literacy Council Volunteer’s Perspective
February 20, 2025March 13, 2025
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Life After Retirement: A Literacy Council Volunteer’s Perspective

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...

Support Literacy in Frederick County: 2025 Unity Campaign
February 18, 2025March 13, 2025
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Support Literacy in Frederick County: 2025 Unity Campaign

The Literacy Council is again honored to be one of 37 nonprofit organizations participating in the Unity Campaign for Frederick County, hosted by United Way of Frederick County. The Unity Campaign supports the over one in three households in Frederick County that struggle to afford basic human necessities! The campaign is focused on funding programs directly supporting the health,...

Matthew’s Story (Part 2): How Learning English Opened Career Doors
February 12, 2025March 13, 2025
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Matthew’s Story (Part 2): How Learning English Opened Career Doors

Matthew can speak more than ten languages. They reveal the adventurous journey he has taken through several countries.  Born in Benin, a country in West Africa, he learned French and five local languages. He picked up three more languages in the neighboring country of Togo. When he moved to South Africa, he learned Afrikaans and...

Matthew’s Story (Part 1): Overcoming Barriers Through Learning
February 5, 2025March 13, 2025
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Matthew’s Story (Part 1): Overcoming Barriers Through Learning

Matthew, 52, was a long way from Frederick when he first began a journey that would ultimately bring him through our doors at the Literacy Council.   Matthew was born in Benin, a country in West Africa. Jobs aren’t easy to come by in Benin, but Matthew was good at making work for himself. At a...

Learner Spotlight: Jhanet
January 21, 2025February 13, 2025
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Learner Spotlight: Jhanet

Although she may stammer sometimes with her English, the dedication that Jhanet has put into achieving her goals for herself and her family speaks loud and clear volumes.  Jhanet, a native of Peru, came to the United States six years ago. After learning about the Frederick County Literacy Council’s Parent Literacy Program, she enrolled in...