Literacy Council of Tyler

🎂🎉July Birthdays and Anniversaries! 🎈🥳

Sending warm birthday wishes to Johana, Veronica, Luis, Elva, and Taylor! 🤩🎁 May your special days be filled with joy and unforgettable moments!

We're also celebrating several work anniversaries! Cheers to Carmen (8 years), Maria (8 years), Amy (3 years), and Billie (2 years)!🎈👏 Your commitment to our students and hard work continues to inspire us all. Here's to a month of celebrating you!

Our offices will be closed July 1-12 for Summer Break. We will reopen on July 15! 🌴🌺🏄

🎉 Cheers to 30 years! Yesterday, we had a "croc'in" good time celebrating Resa Wingfield's retirement after three decades of dedication to Literacy Council of Tyler. We are so thankful for her years of service. Happy Retirement, Resa! 🥳

📣 Big news! 🎉 After weeks of teasers, we are thrilled to announce that Literacy Council of Tyler is undergoing a complete rebrand! Get ready for our fresh new look and exciting changes. Stay tuned for the big reveal on July 15! 🚀✨

Thank you, Becky, for being such an amazing Board Chair for the 2023-2024 year! 🥳 We are incredibly grateful for you!

As we close out our 2023-2024 fiscal year, we have one more board member whose term will end June 30. Nathan Kelley joined the Board in 2018. He was Board Chair from 2021-2022 and has served on every committee there is. Thank you Nathan for your countless hours put into LCOT and everything you do for our community!

As we close out our 2023-2024 fiscal year, we want to thank our Board Members whose terms will end June 30. Carolyn Hutson joined the Board in 2016. She has been involved on several committees and served as Board President from 2022-2023. We are so thankful for you, Carolyn!

As we close out our 2023-2024 fiscal year, we want to thank our Board Members whose terms will end June 30. Mac Griffith joined the Board in 2018 and is a passionate advocate for education. Thank you, Mac, for your years of volunteer service!

🎉 Exciting news! Last week, our Career Pathways students took the first step in their medical journey by becoming CPR certified! 🩺 Huge thanks to Mrs. Juana Bolden-Widemon for teaching the class 🙌

📚🎉A HUGE thank you to our friends from the Tyler Sunrise Rotary Club hosting a book drive for our Bill's Bookshelf initiative! 📖🌟

Bill's Bookshelf is a project that provides new or gently used children's books to families in the community. To learn more, visit lcotyler.org/bills-bookshelf

BIG NEWS coming July 15! 🤩🥳 There's a hint in this post...do you see it? 👀

What a beautiful morning for Day of Caring! 🌞 Huge thanks to United Way of Smith County and volunteers for coming together with our English Language students and their families. We had a blast practicing conversation, enjoying story time, and getting creative with arts and crafts. 🌟

Today marks the first day of English and Computer Skills classes for these students! Thanks to a generous grant from Women's Fund of Smith County, we were able to expand our partnership with Christian Women's Job Corps-Tyler! 🙌 We are incredibly grateful for this collaboration and can't wait to see the growth and success of these inspiring women! 💪📚💻

🌴🎉June Birthdays and Anniversaries! 🎈🥳

Sending warm birthday wishes to Denise, Billie, Blain, Statler, Karen, Meghan, and Lithany! 🎂🎁 May your special days be filled with joy and unforgettable moments!

We're also celebrating several work anniversaries! Cheers to Yoli (2 years), Kayla (1 year), Jacob Matthews (2 years), Jacob Thorn (2 years) and Gareth (17 years)!🎈👏 Your commitment to our students and hard work continues to inspire us all. Here's to a month of celebrating you!

Morning classes at TJC West are cancelled today, June 5 due to a power outage. All other sites are operating as normal. Please check social media and Remind messages for any updates regarding closures this evening.

Due to inclement weather, class registration for the upcoming Spanish program has been canceled for June 4th.

We have rescheduled for Thursday, June 6th from 10:00-2:00.

Classes at TJC West are cancelled today, June 4. All other sites are operating as normal. Please check social media and Remind messages for any updates regarding closures tomorrow, June 5.

ESL Classes at our First Presbyterian Church location are continuing as normal today! Classes at TJC West are cancelled for the day.
Our admin staff are working and you can call us if you need anything or have questions.

We're celebrating Miguel's incredible journey as a recent GED graduate! 🎓✨

From arriving in the U.S. without knowing English to pursuing his dream of becoming a firefighter, he's shown incredible dedication and perseverance. 🚒💪 Read Miguel's story below:

"My name is Miguel Angel Benito. I am from Spain and I arrived here in August 2022 and like every beginning when you change countries, it was a wonderful but difficult experience at the same time. I arrived without knowing any English but I immediately saw everything that was here. They offer to help you and I understood why the United States is the country of opportunities. I immediately started with my English classes and with my teacher Yoli who is wonderful and for a year she helped me to be able to defend myself at least with the basics.

My dream was always to be firefighter and in May 2023 I started as a volunteer, but I am a firefighter at heart and I want to dedicate all my time and my life to being able to do it permanently and help as many people as I can. My problem was that one of the requirements was to have my GED. When I told my goal to Maria León, another wonderful woman who immediately wanted to help me and to whom I will be eternally grateful, called me a few days later to start the GED classes. The classes were taught by Leo and Marcela, who are both incredible people and do everything possible to help you and make the classes fun. Thanks to them, I have been able to obtain my GED. Thank you to Anel Perez, who is lovely and also had a lot of patience and helped me a lot at the end of the course with all my doubts. Now I can see my dream a little closer and I hope to fulfill it, but it would not have been possible without all those people who make up this team and who have helped me from minute one in this process and for that dream to come true. Thank you very much from the heart."

A HUGE thank you to our friend Courtney and little helpers for delivering books to our Bill's Bookshelf location at East Texas Food Bank! 📖🌟

Bill's Bookshelf is a project that provides new or gently used children's books to families in the community. To learn more, visit lcotyler.org/bills-bookshelf

Congratulations to Vianey for achieving her U.S. Citizenship! 🎉 We're so grateful for our partnership with Paulina Pedroza. Thanks to this collaboration, our students have access to scholarships for citizenship classes and interview preparation. Here's to many more success stories like Vianey's in the future! 🌟

We will be closed Monday, May 27 in observance of Memorial Day. We will reopen Tuesday, May 28.

We are excited to offer English classes and computer training in Spanish this summer in partnership with Christian Women's Job Corps-Tyler! Childcare will be available! Call 903-533-0330 to register.

Estamos muy contentos de ofrecer clases de inglés y entrenamiento de computación en español este verano en asociación con Christian Women’s Job Corps! Habrá cuidado infantil disponible! Para registrarse llame al 903-533-0330.

On Thursday, May 9 we hosted a year-end celebration for LCOT students in the English Language Services program. This celebration recognized all the hard work these students have shown throughout the year and included lots of amazing food! We are so proud of everything these students have accomplished this year! 🤩🥳

View photos from the event here: https://lcotyler.smugmug.com/2024-English-Language-Services-Celebration

The English Language Services program currently serves over 450 students, and the student body represents over 29 countries. For more information please visit lcotyler.org or call us at 903-533-0330.

2024 English Language Services Celebration - Literacy Council of Tyler This gallery hosted by SmugMug; your photos look better here.

We are incredibly honored to be recipients of Peltier Subaru's Share the Love event! This generous gift will directly support our adult educational programs, changing the lives of our students and their families. Thank you, Peltier Subaru! 💙📚

WOW!! Thank you so much AVCO Roofing for all you do! We are thrilled to have made the Top 10 for AVCO Gives Back. 🤩 Your gift will allow us to continue expanding our programs beyond Smith County, and reach even more adults. THANK YOU!! 🎉📚🎓

On Thursday, May 16 we hosted a graduation ceremony for LCOT students who have received their GED diploma as well as students who have completed the Career Pathways program. We are truly blown away by the achievements of these students, and it was a joy to celebrate them! Congratulations, grads! 🎓

All photos can be viewed and downloaded here:
https://lcotyler.smugmug.com/2024-Graduation-Ceremony

Watch the livestream here!
Part 1: https://fb.watch/s7gWdtjbEo/
Part 2: https://fb.watch/s7gWNSqdem/

2024 Graduation Ceremony - Literacy Council of Tyler This gallery hosted by SmugMug; your photos look better here.