The hardworking teachers and practitioners of Literacy Plus held an open house last Wednesday to show how their learning facilities could help members of the community.

Coffee and donuts were served as those of all ages came to upgrade their skills in anything from math to computers. Recently moved into a new building on Bridge Street beside Ontario Employment Services to be a one-stop location for those living in Renfrew County to enhance their employment and open their opportunities.

Sue Rupert, the manager of Literacy Plus, said that this open house was also used to show the county the new location after the move in December. Ms. Rupert likes to assure those thinking of coming to Literacy Plus that if they can’t help you obtain the goal you are looking to reach, they will point you in the right direction and make sure they find the right place for you to make that goal happen.

“We wanted to announce to the community that this is where we are,” Ms. Rupert said. “It’s amazing that we’ve been around for 17 years and many people still do not know what we do.”

Literacy Plus is a program though the Ontario government, partnered with Employment Ontario. The two Eganville locations work together in create referrals and helping to open up job opportunities to students.

Gayle Timm, one of the teachers at Literacy Plus, explained that there are a whole variety of reasons for students to come in for classes, such as preparing for independent living, increasing their technology skills or working towards high school or college diploma.  Ms. Timm was a teacher at a variety of high school in Ottawa and has been helping students at Literacy Plus for the last three years.

“Some of our students need these skills to help obtain their Grade 12 diploma or an equivalent, or if the job that they are at now requires more training or educational background,” Ms. Timm said.

Anything from learning how to properly write a letter to refreshing those algebra skills, Literacy Plus is flexible with the style of learning and the learning length.

“We will help our students depending on what the goal is and what they need to achieve that goal,” Ms. Timm explained. “Maybe they need to retrain for a job, or even rise up in the ranks in the job they currently have and their employer requires different skills that they do not have.”

Nancy Ord, another teacher and instructor at Literacy Plus, has been teaching her students all about the uses and techniques of Microsoft Word and emailing.

“Currently I’m teaching the class how to attach and retrieve documents on an email and how to download the document onto a memory stick,” Ms. Ord said. “We want to help them improve their educational and computer skills, and help them to be more independent in their daily life.”

While students can choose to participate in upgrading classes on Mondays, Tuesdays or Wednesdays, or the computer-based classes on Mondays and Wednesday, different students are there for different lengths.

“People come and go as needed,” Ms. Ord said. “Some people have been here for several months and some are here for just days.”

Amanda Elmlinger is a success story that has come out of the Literacy Plus program. Ms. Elmlinger started to attend classes in January 2010 to upgrade her skills because she wanted to get back into the work force and go to college to become at personal support worker.

“Because of being here, I had the motivation to get out there into the work force, and the classes gave me the confidence and skills to succeed,” Ms. Elmlinger said.

Working on both her math and vocabulary skills, Ms. Elmlinger now has her dream job as a PSW and found the self-confidence that she didn’t know she had.

“I owe this place a lot,” she said. “They don’t make you feel silly or little, they just help you to achieve your goals.”

Working away at his computer skills, North Algoma Wilberforce Councillor Lorenz Kelo is learning the ins and outs of email.

“I had no computer skills, and being with council, we receive a lot of reports from agencies through email that are very important,” Coun. Kelo explained. “I came here because I would like to learn how to answer, read and save them.”

Students of all ages and education levels were at the open house, broadening their horizons in a multitude of skills.