SE Regional Adult Literacy Symposium

Presented by Literacy Services
& Wisconsin Literacy

Literacy Symposuim

Recordings Are Available!
Check below to find recordings from most of our sessions.

Thank You for Attending!
In case you have not had the chance, please take a minute to complete our survey for any sessions you attended.

Additionally, many of the wonderful organizations and presenters from this week are only able to do the work they do through grant funding.  If you attended Intersectionality or Health Literacy please take a minute to take the corresponding survey below to ensure these wonderful programs continue to be available to all.

Presentations

Making Math Fun for Low Level Learners

It is essential for learners to find meaning and make sense of math to engage in learning. In this session, participants will explore strategies, activities, and games that can be utilized with adult learners that relate to their daily lives. This session will focus on basic math skills, including place value, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and even money. The session is for tutors, technical college instructors and literacy staff and will focus on basic math skills in a fun way. 

Presented by:
Amy Cops
Math Instructor
Lakeshore Technical College

Intersectionality

This presentation will provide a working definition of intersectionality and examples related to the COVID-19 pandemic and Milwaukee educational outcomes. The presenter will establish why intersectionality is important for equitable outcomes and allow participants the opportunity to reflect on their own socialization. Participants will learn tips on developing a lens of intersectionality in volunteerism and education.

Presented by:
Paula Phillips
Sr. Director, Race and Gender Equity
YWCA Southeast Wisconsin

Secondary Trauma: What Is It and How Can We Overcome It?

This presentation will focus on the negative effects that volunteers and helping professionals sometimes endure when working with trauma-affected children, adults and families. Exposure to service recipients’ experience of trauma, i.e., secondary trauma (ST), affects many helpers. It often influences both personal well-being and professional satisfaction and can mimic post-traumatic stress disorder or other stress-related outcomes. Some experts believe that ST is inevitable. Fortunately, recent research also suggests that we can do much to prevent or resolve it. Research also suggests that we can even use ST to stimulate personal and professional growth. In this presentation, not only will participants explore the phenomenon of trauma and ST, but they will also spend time discussing the ways in which they can apply insights from the field of ST studies to enhance life balance and professional efficacy. 

Presented by:
James Topitzes, PhD LCSW
Professor
Helen Bader School of Social Welfare

Developing Effective Mentoring Relationships

The goal of this experiential workshop is to help participants develop more effective mentoring relationships. Participants will gain a personal understanding of the characteristics of high-quality mentoring, how to build and develop effective mentorships, and the benefits of these relationships for both mentors and proteges. We will also gain an appreciation of how diversity enhances mentoring and how to optimize learning and growth in diverse mentoring relationships.

Presented by:
Belle Ragins
Sheldon B. Lubar Professor of Management
Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Building Academic Level Gains – Using TABE Mastery and Scoreboost for TABE

Helping students improve their TABE scores is something every tutor and instructor aims to do.This presentation will cover how we can start to analyze student curriculum offerings through a review of the research-base and use of TABE Mastery and Scoreboost for TABE from New Readers Press. We will identify key elements of these series to help students build their content knowledge and achieve their academic goals. Finally, a review some free resources will help programs streamline their curriculum for student and program success.

Presented by:
Ann Beeson
Adult Education Specialist
New Readers Press

Looking Back & Moving Forward: Voting Rights & Literacy in America

Using history to build our foundation, we will explore the challenges that citizens have faced, and are currently facing, in the fight to become active and educated voters. We will examine voters in Milwaukee County to understand the importance of literacy services, voter outreach, and voter education efforts.

Presented by:
Lena Scheibengraber
Voter Services Co-Chair
League of Women Voters Milwaukee County

Becoming a U.S. Citizen

This session is ideal for adult educators, those preparing to become U.S. citizens, as well as anyone interested in learning about the naturalization process. The program includes an explanation of the naturalization process and eligibility requirements. The USCIS representative will also discuss the English-language and civics examinations. In addition, participants will have an opportunity to ask questions during the Q&A session and will receive free informational materials.

Presented by:
María del Carmen Rodríguez
Community Relations Officer
USCIS

Adapting ELL Strategies to Virtual Platforms

We’ll try out some classic ELL (English Language Learning) strategies in this highly interactive session on Zoom. Please bring paper, a pencil, and whatever materials you usually use in a learning session.

Presented by:
Anna Bierer
Northeast Regional Literacy Consultant
Wisconsin Literacy

Directors' Round Table

The Directors' Roundtable will give agency administrators an opportunity to discuss topics of interest. We will focus the first part of our discussion hearing how to best connect to our regional Workforce Boards and make those connections work. We will also discuss our “new normal” and how agencies are moving forward to re-opening.

This session designed specifically for directors and is not suited for a general audience.

Presented by:
Marsha Connet - Southeast Regional Literacy Consultant, Wisconsin Literacy
Holly McCoy Executive Director, Literacy Services of Wisconsin

Health Literacy - Finding Reliable Health Info

“Dr. Google” – Finding Health Information You Can Trust is a free train-the-trainer program developed by Wisconsin Health Literacy. The program is designed for tutors and professionals who help students find credible health information. Goals for participants are to leave feeling confident helping others, especially from underserved populations and those at risk for low health literacy, identify and effectively use trustworthy sources of online health information.

Presented by:
Caitlyn Mowatt
Health Communications Specialist
Wisconsin Health Literacy

Presenters

Ann Beeson
New Readers Press
Adult Education Specialist

Ann Beeson has worked with literacy and adult education programs since 2001, and currently works in 7 states. As an independent sales consultant, Ann offers resources for adult learners, primarily through New Readers Press. She has a Masters degree in Curriculum & Instructional design from the University of Minnesota.

 

 

 

Anna Bierer
Northeast Regional Literacy Consultant
Wisconsin Literacy

Anna’s entire professional career has focused on adult and family literacy. Her experiences include tutoring adults in literacy and numeracy, teaching English to adult refugees, managing family literacy programs, and facilitating partnerships with private, public and nonprofit sectors. Anna joined Wisconsin Literacy as the Northeast Regional Literacy Consultant in April, 2016. She supports 18 member adult and family literacy programs in the region. Wisconsin Literacy’s mission is Changing lives by strengthening literacy statewide. Anna’s previous experience in adult and family literacy includes positions with Neighborhood House of Milwaukee, Literacy Network (Dane County), Milwaukee Area Technical College, and Waukesha County Technical College. Anna earned a Master’s degree in Applied English Linguistics with TESOL Certification from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has a Certificate in Nonprofit Management from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Continuing Education.

 

Amy Cops
Math Instructor
Lakeshore Technical College

Amy Cops is a life-long learner who enjoys working with students. She has taught preschool through adult learners for 25+ years in a variety of educational settings. Amy is a graduate of UW-Platteville with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and a minor in mathematics. She is enrolled at UW-Superior pursuing a master’s degree in Instruction. Amy is an ABE/GED instructor at Lakeshore Technical College.

 

 

 

María del Carmen Rodríguez
Community Relations Officer
USCIS

Maria del Carmen Rodriguez is currently the Community Relations Officer for USCIS Great Lakes District 34 in Chicago. She joined INS as an asylum officer in 2002, and USCIS as an Adjudicator and Immigration Services Officer II at the Chicago Field Office in 2007. Previously, Maria served as an attorney with the Office of the Cook County Public Guardian in Chicago and as a Public Relations practitioner in the nonprofit arena for 15 years. Maria earned a double BA in History and Communications from Mundelein College in Chicago; an MA in Journalism from Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL; a JD from NIU College of Law, and a LLM from DePaul University College of Law.

 

Caitlyn Mowatt
Health Communications Specialist
Wisconsin Health Literacy

Caitlyn Mowatt joins Wisconsin Health Literacy as the Health Communications Specialist. Her background is working in a healthcare setting where she was an advocate for health literacy in her community and leading health literacy efforts at an organizational level. She appreciates the work nonprofit organizations contribute to communities and is excited to commit her focus to the health literacy profession. Caitlyn holds a Bachelor's of Science in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

 

Paula Phillips
Sr. Director, Race and Gender Equity
YWCA Southeast Wisconsin

Paula Phillips’ mission is to actively build a society in which all of us are seen, heard, and cared for. Starting her career in ministry, she shifted her focus to the nonprofit sector through her service as an AmeriCorps member. She first came to Milwaukee to serve as an AmeriCorps volunteer with Public Allies, then continued to build her career in the nonprofit sector at City Year Milwaukee. Prior to joining the YWCA, she worked to empower women and promote diverse leadership at the Medical College of Wisconsin. Her roles have included organizational change management, budget development/management, government relations, board development, staff development, office management, volunteer recruitment and management, talent acquisition, and strategic planning.
 

Belle Ragins
Sheldon B. Lubar Professor of Management
Lubar School of Business, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

Dr. Belle Rose Ragins is the Sheldon B Lubar Professor of Management at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She is an expert in the fields of mentoring, diversity and positive relationships at work. Dr. Ragins has written more than a 100 papers for presentations and publications and has co-authored books on mentoring and positive relationships at work. She is an elected Fellow of five professional associations, a Fulbright Senior Specialist Scholar and the past Editor of the Academy of Management Review, one of the fields most prestigious journals. Dr. Ragins has received numerous life-time achievement, service and teaching awards. She was recently named in Stanford University’s list of the top 2% of scientists in the world.

 

Lena Scheibengraber
Voter Services Co-Chair
League of Women Voters Milwaukee County

Lena, a City of Milwaukee native, started her role as Voter Services Co-Chair in January of 2021 and has been engaged in voter registration and engagement activities since 2010. She serves as a Chief Election Inspector for the City of Milwaukee, a Legal Observer with the ACLU of Wisconsin, and was a non-partisan observer with the LWV during the recent recount in Milwaukee County. Additionally, Lena has served as a volunteer in many campaigns, has spoken in front of the Senate, Assembly, and Joint Finance Committee in WI, and has been a part of various advocacy efforts.

 

James TopitzesPhD LCSW
Professor
Helen Bader School of Social Welfare

James “Dimitri” Topitzes, Ph.D., LCSW, is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee (UWM) in the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare. He also serves as the Director of Clinical Services for the Institute for Child and Family Well-Being. He conducts applied research, partnering with community-based agencies to implement and test innovative trauma-responsive programming. As a clinician, Dr. Topitzes delivers and oversees trauma-focused treatments. He created the Trauma-Informed Care Graduate Certificate at UWM and teaches master’s courses in trauma counseling, mindfulness and community building.