Literacy notes, winter 2013

              Literacy Notes
Kevin Durant signs Andrew Rains shirt before the Thunder game on November 18, 2012.
A Piece of
Thunder
Of course, learning to read is a
dream come true, but for one
adult learner, another dream
came true thanks to his tutor
Suzanne Parker. Avid OKC
Thunder fan Andrew Rains
was invited to attend a basket-ball
game as the guest of Thun-der
employee Angela Parker,
Suzanne’s daughter.
Rains, who has not missed a sin-gle
televised Thunder game in
five years, was at the Chesapeake
Arena in November to witness the Thunder victory over the Golden State Warriors. Rains received an
additional thrill when player Kevin Durant visited with him during the pregame warm-up and signed
the jersey Rains was wearing. The shirt was also signed by player Nick Collison, the Thunder’s broadcast
play-by-play man Brian Davis, and television color analyst Grant Long. Rains was also presented a “#1
Thunder” home jersey.
Parker and Rains are part of the Opportunities Industrialization Center literacy program in Oklahoma
City. Because of Rains’ interest in the Thunder, Parker often uses Oklahoman newspaper sports articles
to help Andrew practice reading. The Oklahoman article following this game was familiar material as it
featured the story of Andrew’s birthday adventure.
Oklahoma Tutors Step Forward
Representatives from nineteen local literacy and adult edu-cation
programs recently attended a workshop presented by
national literacy expert, Jayme Adelson-Goldstein. Attendees
learned effective strategies to help English language learners
practice vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation skills needed
to develop life skill, civics, workplace, and Continued on page 2
Copyright The Oklahoma Publishing Company
Winter 2013
Check Inside
TV411 Webinar. 2
Teddy Bears Bring Comfort. 2
Health Literacy Summit Wrap up. 3
Learner Successes. 4
Coming Up. 5
Reviewing Health Materials. 5
Honors Awarded in Woodward. 5