Seeds Responds to Tight Job Market with Increased Class Sessions

February 26, 2009

Seeds of Literacy, a nonprofit organization providing free, one-to-one-tutoring in basic education and GED preparation to adults in Cuyahoga County, has added an afternoon class session in order to accommodate an increase in student enrollment.

“As the job market tightens in northeast Ohio, we’re seeing more people coming to us for help – about twenty to thirty new students each week,“ states Bonnie Entler, Executive Director of Seeds of Literacy. “In January, we started offering an additional afternoon class session in order to help our students become better positioned to obtain employment in this challenging job market.“

According to the National Assessment of Adult Literacy by the U.S. Department of Education, an adult without a high school diploma earns 42% less than an adult who has graduated from high school or obtained a GED. The unemployment rate for high school dropouts is four times that of high school or GED program graduates. Cleveland’s illiteracy rate is 69%, with some neighborhoods having rates as high as 92%, as reported in a study from the Center for Urban Poverty and Social Change, Mandel School of Applied Social Science at Case Western Reserve University.

Seeds of Literacy has student retention and graduation rates that are twice the national average, and Entler attributes this success to the program’s structure. “Our one-to-one tutoring style builds relationships of trust and allows each student to work at her or his own academic level; we have students of all skills levels. And we regularly review individual goals with students, encouraging them to take advantage of additional job training and development, entrepreneurship training and career preparation opportunities.“ 

Classes are held at the Seeds of Literacy Resource Center, 3104 West 25th Street (corner of West 25th and Clark Avenue), and are offered Monday - Thursday:  9 am - 11 am, 1 pm - 3 pm, and 6 pm - 8 pm. There is always a need for volunteer tutors. Seeds of Literacy is a not-for-profit, 501(C)3 organization, and is the only adult literacy program in Cuyahoga County to be nationally accredited by ProLiteracy America.

Seeds of Literacy is an education ministry begun by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cleveland, Ohio.  The focus is to help adults in need of assistance in reading, writing and math, and to improve their ability to function, compete and advance in society in an atmosphere of Christian care and compassion.