Getting involved in a busy fall
by Mary Kay Peterson, La Communidad Hispana, PAACE President

Welcome to the fall season! This is not only the start of cool weather and new programs but also the final run-up to the Presidential and Congressional/Legislative elections. I want to take this opportunity to encourage everyone to get out to vote and to get out the vote. This is a critical year for elections.

Special emphasis on getting the young women of Pennsylvania out to vote has been a priority of WomenVotePA, an organization with which PAACE is proud to be a coalition partner. According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, Pennsylvania is one of the nine worst states for women in the country with respect to employment and earnings, political participation, economic and social autonomy, and health and well-being. This may be in part due to the fact that while 68% of married women voted in 2000, only 52% of single women cast ballots. This resulted in 6 million fewer votes. Let’s make sure that our learners, regardless of gender and party leanings, understand that their vote does count and they have both the right and the responsibility as citizens to have their voice heard!

The article by JoAnn Weinberger, PAACE Legislative Chair, in this issue of PAACE News provides where-to-find information and resources. Please also consider the other right and responsibility of a citizen to advocate with your legislator on the funding of Even Start and Family Literacy programs. The cuts planned for these programs may be the tip of the iceberg and we must be prepared to let Harrisburg and Washington know the value these programs offer to families and communities.

Bob McNeill, First Vice-President, is awaiting the onslaught of your presenter proposals for the 2005 Midwinter Conference and is planning a wonderful conference. Be sure to check his article for the latest information.

Under the leadership of Debbie Hrach, Second Vice-President, PAACE continues the strategic planning process. Once a draft is available, it will be here on the website for your review and comments before finalization.

Also, watch for notice of the bylaws revision that has been patiently guided by Barbara Van Horn, PAACE Past President. You will receive a paper notice and ballot that the bylaws are available for your review and we ask that you read them and vote by returning the paper ballot during the allotted time period.

As always, I’m available and interested in your review and comments on anything so let me know what you think!

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by Bob McNeill, Delaware Valley College, PAACE First Vice-President (Conference Program Chair)

Every year is a special one when we gather in the throes of winter to meet, share, and just plain get together to help one another become better adult educators for our constituents in Pennsylvania. This year we'll gather February 9-11, 2005 at the Hershey Convention Center.

The theme for this year’s conference, “The Changing Face of Adult Education,” can be interpreted in many ways. How you interpret the theme is up to you, but our 40^th annual conference promises to provide for you and you co-workers many exciting, interesting, and relevant workshops that will offer information for you to take home and use in the months to come. Many things in our lives mandate change; some we have much control over, others we don’t. One thing is for sure and certain: change is in perpetual motion, and we have to grasp and accept it or be left behind looking at the future instead of being a part of it.

As we prepare for the conference and the future, I invite you to consider becoming a session presenter. Submitting a proposal for a concurrent session will give you an opportunity to share with others in your field your experiences, or to provide insightful best practices about our profession. If you wish to present a session, please go to the PAACE homepage www.paacesite.org and take a few minutes to complete the online form. If you need assistance, please feel free to call me at (215) 489-4888, and I will be happy to provide you with whatever help you need. Deadline is October 30.

Keynote speaker Bill Draves

The Honorary Chair is Turkey Hill Dairies. Turkey Hill is being recognized for the outstanding work performed with the Lancaster-Lebanon Intermediate Unit 13 for a workplace education project. This endeavor was expanded to a project on family literacy for the employees of Turkey Hill. This commitment to Family Literacy continues to this day in partnership with the Lancaster-Lebanon IU.

We all look forward to seeing you again in February 2005 in Hershey, and particularly for you to present a workshop.

One other item for those “PAACErs” that have been attending the conferences for some time: Since this is our 40^th conference I would like to develop a collage of photos taken at past conferences for the cover of the program, and also for inclusion inside the program and the other publications issued at the conference. If you can e-mail them to me that would be great. If you would like to send them to me, please obtain a copy of the photo at your local photo processing center and send the copy to me. I think that we can all get a sense of how things have changed over the years through a photo retrospective.

Thanks so much for your wonderful and continuing support of PAACE, and I look forward to working with all of you in the years to come.

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Two priorities, right now
by JoAnn Weinberger, Center for Literacy, PAACE Legislative Committee Chair

At this time of year, two issues should be priorities for you and your programs:

1. Voter registration deadline was October 4 in Pennsylvania. Once you have encouraged everyone in your program to vote, the next related activity is to make sure everyone goes to the polls. The ABLE website has excellent resources to use in your classes.
   Remember: you can’t complain about the actions of your elected officials unless you have been proactive and voted!
   
   
2. Appropriations. This is the time of year that the President and the Governor are working on proposed budgets for 2005-06. They need to hear from you about the importance of funding for adult education, including family literacy.

Recently, I had a long conversation with Mark Laisch, aide to Senator Specter. He was clear that the Senate Appropriations Committee took its lead from the President’s requested budget, and he recommended writing the President now regarding 2005-06. Since President Bush has been recommending eliminating funding for Even Start for years, you may be questioning about the impact of these letters. I would respond that we must make a point, including that his mother’s Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation provides limited funds that rests upon an infrastructure of family literacy programs provided by Even Start.

Since, hopefully you, as well as the elected officials, are working on election-related activities, please write your letters right after the election. You can be working on them now.

Dear _______________:

            I am writing to urge you to increase appropriations for adult basic education and family literacy in the 2006 budget you are developing. These funds are imperative for the economic climate of Pennsylvania  and the nation, as well as support of K-12 education.

            {Insert story or stories of your students}

            I look forward to your budget address.

Addresses:

Governor Edward G. Rendell
225 Main Capitol Building
Harrisburg, PA 17120

TANF deadline extended

Temporary Aid to Needy Families legislation has been extended once again--for six months. The extension is without amendment.

On a related issue, Pennsylvania is having to confront a nearly exhausted TANF balance as the Rendell Administration prepares its 2005-2006 budget for presentation in February 2005. The drained balance and the uncertainty about the future of TANF is likely to have consequences on key health and human service programs. This makes it even more critical for PAACE members to write the Governor about the importance of adult and family literacy programs.

Advocacy manual updated

Do you want to know how to STAND UP AND BE COUNTED? Please access the new, updated PAACE advocacy how-to manual Stand Up and Be Counted*, which has received national recognition but was written for Pennsylvania. Many thanks to Tana Reiff for her efforts in editing this updated version.

*A free, downloadable, printable PDF file

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Family Literacy
Best Practice Awards
by Ruth Love-Schooley, Lycoming County Library System, Family Literacy Division Director

The Family Literacy Division of PAACE, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Family Literacy Training Project, is pleased to announce the creation of Family Literacy Best Practice Awards. The goal of the awards is to applaud programs for their efforts to serve families and to encourage best practices across the Commonwealth.

Awards will be considered in the following five areas:  use of volunteers, using evidenced-based research, meeting the needs of community populations, collaboration with schools, and collaborations with community agencies. The awards will be presented during the Family Literacy Division luncheon at the Midwinter conference. The application process will begin in November, so watch for details.

Also in November, Governor Rendell will sign a Proclamation declaring National Family Literacy Day in Pennsylvania. How will you be celebrating? Remember to include your government representatives in your festivities. What better way is there to advocate in a time where funding is being questioned so recurrently?

Remember that October 30 is the deadline to submit a session proposal for the Midwinter conference. We need your help to make this year’s conference better than ever. I especially encourage all early childhood educators to submit a proposal for a best practice or idea. Your colleagues would love to hear from you.

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Adult Basic and Secondary Education (AB/SE)
Getting together at Midwinter
by Chuck Klinger, Tuscarora IU 11, AB/SE Division Director

For the 2005 PAACE Midwinter Conference we would like to provide practitioners more of a chance to be heard. We are looking to do this in two ways. The first is to have more practitioners present at the conference. We will be happy to provide support to any practitioner who has any best practices to present on. If you would like guidance completing a proposal or help smoothing the rough edges of your presentation, let us know. Contact me at cklinger@tiu11.org.

The other thing we would like to encourage is participation at our Division meeting. Last year, we featured a speaker who gave a presentation on an electronic format for the Official GED Practice Test. Feedback from the meeting indicated that while practitioners thought the presentation was good, they preferred having more time to network. We will again hold an ice cream social in the evening but focus on issues and networking.

The most common form of positive feedback we hear about the conference is that it provides our membership the opportunity to interact and hear what colleagues are doing. We are working to provide this opportunity throughout the conference.

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Continuing Higher Education (CHE)
CEA/PA offering professional development opportunity

Under Act 48, teachers certified to teach K-12 in Pennsylvania need to obtain 180 hours of professional development every five years. The first cycle ends June 30, 2005. Since it began in July 2000, hours have been provided for those attending the PAACE Midwinter Conference. There have been some attendees who have not completed the required paperwork and have not been awarded credit. Over the past few months, we’ve learned a little more about the process of awarding Act 48 credit and will work to make the process more manageable for the 2005 conference. If you need Act 48, please follow whatever instructions are provided to ensure you receive your proper credit. One notable change will be we will no longer require you to put your social security number on a sign-in sheet for everyone to see. We will provide clear instructions prior to and at the conference. We also expect that Act 48 will still be in effect after the first cycle ends.

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Nominations open for Central Rep and Second VP

by Linda Herr, Lycoming County Library System, Past PAACE President

The PAACE Board nominating committee is now accepting nominees for the following positions: Central Representative and Second Vice-President.

The Central Representative’s responsibilities include conducting activities that raise awareness in the field about PAACE and benefits of membership. These activities may include distributing PAACE information at workshops, conferences, and other venues to encourage participation in PAACE.

The Second Vice-President serves a one-year term and is responsible for working with Program Division Directors and the Representatives of the Geographic Regions. The Second Vice President succeeds the First Vice-President for a one-year term leading to becoming PAACE President.

If you know of someone who would be a good candidate or if you are interested in either of these positions, or if you would simply like more information, please contact me at (570) 321-0200 or via e-mail at lherr@jvbrown.edu.

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COABE Regional Institute in West Virginia

Hello, Pennsylvanians.  Greetings from Wild & Wonderful West Virginia!! 

Attached, please find a copy our registration form for the first-of-its-kind regional COABE institute. Since Pennsylvania is in Region 2 of the COABE regions, we here in West Virginia would like to personally invite you to attend COABE's Regional Institute - "Institute in the Hills."  My goal is to have at least 10-15 teachers, tutors, and administrators from Pennsylvania attend our "Institute in the Hills."

Charleston, West Virginia is approximately 3 hours from Pittsburgh, traveling on Interstate 79 south.

Also, attached are instructions for making reservations at the Embassy Suites.

David B. Hollingsworth
DHHR Special Services Coordinator
RESA III
501 22nd Street
Dunbar, WV 25064
Voice: (304) 766-7655, Ext. 123
Voice, toll-free: (800) 257-3723. Ext. 123
Fax: (304) 766-7915
E-mail: dbhollin@access.k12.wv.us

AAACE 2004 Conference
Weaving Tradition and Innovation

November 3-6, 2004
The Galt House, Louisville, Kentucky

More information: aaace.org

The Changing Face of Adult Education

Hershey Convention Center
February 9-11, 2005

Session proposals due October 30, 2004. Go to paacesite.org for the online form.

Click here to follow conference news.

In a cost-cutting measure, the PAACE board voted to eliminate postcards announcing the release of the organization's quarterly online newsletter, PAACE News. Members will continue to be notified via the members' e-mail list. Members who have been requesting hard copies from their regional reps may continue to do so.

WESTERN: Emmett Baxendell—voice (412) 390-2392, fax (412) 482-0187
CENTRAL: Vacant
EASTERN: Joe Morales—voice (717) 270-2937, fax (717) 270-2943

If you have Internet access and the capability to print, please do not request a hard copy.

For those who like to print out PAACE News, you now have the option of printing directly from your browser or downloading a PDF file of each issue.

Download PAACE News as PDF file here.

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Whatever your interest in adult education may be, the LINCS conference calendar has something for you--actually, LOTS of things for you. Check out this thorough list of conferences and events related to adult education, technology, and affiliated topics at: www.nifl.gov/cgi-bin/Calendar/calendar_world.cgi

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If you are a PAACE member and are not subscribed to the members e-mail list, you may use the simple sign-up process by going to www.paacesite.org, clicking on the link on the main page for the PAACE lists, and following the link for the members@paacesite.org list. Subscribers also may follow the link to change subscription information. Currently, Technology Committee chair Scot Mentzer is moderating the list but is still looking for assistance. List moderation is aimed at eliminating spam e-mail. Only subscribers may post to the list.

PAACE members are encouraged to be on the e-mail list in order to receive announcements and late-breaking legislative news.

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PAACE has an e-mail address. Write to paace@paacesite.org for general inquiries and information. Joan Leopold, PAACE executive director, will answer your questions or direct your e-mail to the appropriate person.