doing more as individuals of pi phi

sailorpiphi · #1 07-08-2003, 08:54 AM

I am reading stupid white men by michael moore. In his book he states that there are forty four million Americans who can't read and write above a fourth grade level. Granted, I always thought literacy was important but after i started reading this book and him talking about how our educations systems are failing, it really hits home. It also makes me really glad our national philanthropy is links to literacy. Maybe this belongs in chit chat but what do you think we could maybe do more as individuals (for example, over the summer when sorority life is not active) to give more back for our philanthropy? Maybe get involved with big sisters/ big brothers program....
edited to add: sorry if my own english is lacking, im studying in germany and tend to think in german a lot....

carnation · #2 07-08-2003, 09:17 AM

Ausgezeichnet!

I've been teaching adult literacy classes 2 nights a week since 1989 and I think the best way to help is to get individually involved with teaching a student (adult or child) to read. There are a lot of people out there who take longer to learn and teachers don't have the time to work with them one on one.

erniegurl00 · #3 07-08-2003, 01:49 PM

Hmm...maybe during the summer we could volunteer at the library to read books or even collect them in our town?

Personally, I'm volunteering with my college's BELL preschool program. (BELL stands for Butler Early Language Learning) We're helping children learn the alphabet and to love looking/reading books.

sailorpiphi · #4 07-08-2003, 02:10 PM

Thanks for the ideas. I think when i come home from germany, i will be all looking at the local libraries because i do know that they do, do summer reading programs there. As for the tutoring idea, that would be a really good idea for our chapter when we all go back.
I just feel community service deprived here in Germany, i live in a really small town where it is really safe all the time and nothing happens. Giving back to the community is my way of attempting to help out the people who arent as fortunate as me.
i would love to continue to hear ideas here tho, i think as individuals too, going back to our hometowns and making impacts there are just as important as when we are at college.
I also think that it maybe wouldnt be too hard to round up some sisters who live in my area to come do it with me, there are a lot of alums and current sisters in my hometown (and area) that im sure would come along!