Welcome to the South Dakota Literacy Council Online!

Our goal is to help people receive educational help in a confidential setting. If you or someone you know is looking for a reading/math tutor—we will try to help you find a volunteer tutor. You can help. Become a member by contacting any officer or using the "Join SDLC" link.

NEWS ITEMS:

We are in need of volunteers at the Literacy Network office at the Rushmore Mall. The work is very simply to be there to answer the phone and answer inquiries from Mall patrons. Training takes about an hour.

As you may know, Elsie Kephart has been spending 50 to 60 hours a week at the Literacy Network. She will be cutting back on the number of days she'll be there and will arrange her tutoring for those days. Even when Elsie's there, another person should be at the front desk. So we really need to get volunteers to help with coverage. The following shifts are available:

Monday
12 noon - 2 p.m.

Tuesday
10 a.m. - 12 noon 12 noon - 2 p.m. 2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Wednesday
10 a.m. - 12 noon
12 noon - 2 p.m.
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Thursday
12 noon - 2 p.m.
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.
4 p.m. - 6 p.m.
6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Friday
10 a.m. - 12 noon
12 noon - 2 p.m.
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Saturday
10 a.m. - 12 noon
12 noon - 2 p.m.
2 p.m. - 4 p.m.

Please call 394-5454 to sign up for a shift.

We have published a book entitled “MEMORIES.” Nearly all of the articles, poems, and autobiographies are written by New Readers. We thank the South Dakota Council on Developmental Disabilities for the grant that made it possible for us to do this project. Through the grant we were able to hold a writing workshop with two South Dakota authors and to cover the expenses associated with the printing of the book. The cover of the book was drawn by one of the writers. See more information about the book on the “News” link.

My Desire to Learn by “Poncho”

The following is a song that I wrote after I joined the Literacy program. I wrote it to hopefully help reading adults understand the feelings and pain that someone like me goes through every day of my life because I do not know how to read and write. Hopefully, it also conveys the joy and hope I had as I started to learn to read.

It doesn’t make sense
This desire I feel.
Why I never could read
Yet, I know that I will.

Your words excite me.
I warm at the sounds.
Your nouns seem to invite me
To stay and learn awhile.

You’re on my mind and in my heart.
I’ve loved you so right from the start.
Though the words will keep us apart.

Is it just a fantasy?
Or do you feel the way I do?
I hardly know how to read.
But I know some day I will.

You’re on my mind and in my heart.
I’ve loved you so from the start.
Though the words will keep us apart.
Though the words will keep us apart.

I can only hope that this has helped someone understand what an illiterate person feels every day of his or her life and that if you know someone who can not read or write, PLEASE try to encourage him or her to get help through their local Literacy Council. Be aware that they will be afraid of anyone knowing that they can not read and write as they could be afraid of being rejected by all.

Published in South Dakota: A Journey Through Time Tutor Tips, Sarah D. Hillner, Ed. (Prairie View Press, 2002) Poncho has also set this poem to music.