Three Days In November

This last Saturday (October 28, 2006) I had the pleasure of speaking to the
assembled adult learners from San Diego county who were attending the
annual adult learners conference sponsored by READ/San Diego and other
literacy groups in the county. I spoke about three days in November which I
think it is important for all of us who work in adult literacy education to
be aware of and to take action on.

First, on November 3 we celebrate 40 years of service to adult learners in
the Adult Education and
Literacy System (AELS) of the United States of America which became
formalized when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Adult Education Act
of 1966. Adult literacy educators and adult learners alike should find a
way to celebrate this third branch of education in the U.S. and the more
than 100 million enrollments it has witnessed in the 40 years of its
existence.

Next, on November 7, Election Day, it is imperative that adult literacy
educators and adult learners go to the polls and vote. I pointed out in my
presentation that hundreds of thousands of adult learners have fought in
the Revolutionary War, the Civil War, World War I, World War II and the
Vietnam war for the freedom that we all enjoy. Further, adult learners of
African-American descent by the hundreds of thousands learned to write
their names and to vote during the years leading up to and encompassing the
Civil Rights movement in the second half of the 20th century in the U. S. We
owe it to those who have fought on the battle grounds and struggled for the
vote under the duress of Jim Crow laws to get out and vote on November 7th.

Finally, on November 11, Veteran’s Day, on the 11th hour of the 11th day of
the 11th month we need to pause for a minute and remember the adult
literacy teachers and adult learners, as well as the other hundreds of
thousands of our fellow citizens who fought in wars and gave their lives
gaining and protecting the freedoms we all enjoy today.


These are three very important days in November for adult literacy educators
and adult learners.

Tom Sticht