Locals win state literacy awards
BATESVILLE — Ozark Foothills Literacy Project nominees took home three of the seven 2012 Arkansas Literacy Council awards held recently in North Little Rock.
Batesville English language student Migdalys Mobley, originally from Venezuela, was was selected as the state-wide 2012 Student of the Year. Mobley was nominated by her tutor, Kathy Jenkins, who praised her student for “unswerving devotion to mastering the English language and to becoming an active member of her new community.”
Parents as Teachers, a division of the Batesville School District, received the 2012 Outstanding Business Partner award, which honors a company, business, civic or professional organization for leadership or significant contributions in support of literacy. Lorrie McClure, Parents as Teachers coordinator, accepted the award on behalf of the organization. Parents as Teachers’ partnership with the Ozark Foothills Literacy Project has resulted in a family literacy program that has been offered monthly for nearly two years.
Eye On Independence received the 2012 Innovative Project award, which is presented to an agency or organization for outstanding, innovative, continuous or effective coverage of literacy issues, resulting in positive change or improvement. Eye On Independence has taken a special interest in literacy and related community issues, frequently featuring literacy stories and activities in their monthly publication.
Other awards went to literacy programs throughout Arkansas. The Literacy Council in Excellence Award went to Mississippi County Literacy Council in Blytheville for its inventive program that trains incarcerated persons to be literacy tutors, who in turn help other incarcerated persons learn to read, write, or speak English better. Lucy McClane, of the Dogwood Literacy Council in Siloam Springs, was named 2012 Tutor of the Year, and the Win Rockefeller Leadership Award was presented to Arkansas Department of Career Education Deputy Director Jim Smith. The Dee Caviness-Ettamay Smith award was given posthumously to Eddye Kay Hansen, former director of Arkansas County Literacy Council in Stuttgart.