AEFL Week 2022
That’s a wrap on Adult Education and Family Literacy (AEFL) Week! We were thrilled to use this opportunity to elevate adult education and family literacy nationwide with policymakers, the media and our community. Currently, there are over 43 million adults in the United States who struggle to read, write, or use basic math skills above a third-grade level. To meet this need, scaleLIT and its members are committed to promoting awareness of barriers to literacy and advocating for more resources and policies that advance adult education.
This year, we were honored to present six COABE Champion of Adult Education Awards to US Senator Tammy Duckworth, US Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois State Representative Theresa Mah, and Chicago city officials Mayor Lori Lightfoot, City Clerk Anna Valencia, and 25th Ward Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez. We were able to present these awards in-person to Representative Mah, City Clerk Valencia and Alderman Sicho-Lopez at the Pui Tak Center, one of the oldest adult education organizations in the city, on September 22, 2022.
The second annual Invest in the Midwest Virtual Rally highlighted exciting strides being made in adult education across the Midwest and advocated for expanding progress even further. In the rally, we joined dozens of adult education leaders across the region, facilitated by scaleLIT’s Education Tech Director Michael Matos. Reiterating the words of Mayor Lightfoot in launching the Chicago Digital Equity Council earlier this year, Matos shared that “the City of Chicago is dedicating unprecedented resources to closing the digital divide and addressing the lasting repercussions the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Chicago’s most vulnerable communities.”
In this same spirit of teamwork, our own member organizations joined us across social media, sharing stories and posts of how they leverage adult education and family literacy to uplift the people they serve. Throughout AEFL Week, we also participated in initiatives celebrating and sharing the impacts of adult ed on individuals. Adult learners shared their own success stories through “Adult Education Matters to Me” writing submissions, along with instructors who reflected on the impact that working in adult ed has had on their own lives—and the collaboration didn’t stop there. Local officials including Mayor Lightfoot and Alderman Andre Vasquez, as well as the scaleLIT team, also shared their responses to the prompt: “Adult Education Matters to Me,” with answers ranging from “empowerment” to “opportunity” to “the importance of lifelong learning.” Submissions were also entered into a raffle for a $150 gift card. Congratulations to raffle winners Babita Negi from World Relief and Bria Dolnick from Chinese Mutual Aid Association, and thank you to everyone who submitted writing and videos!
We are grateful to everyone who worked with us to make AEFL Week 2022 a success. Uplifting adult education in each of these ways has been not only a testimony to the work we’ve achieved together, but also powerful motivation to continue advocating for the adult and family literacy initiatives that advance education, access, and equity in so many communities.
