Tutor workshop planned tomorrow

The Valley Adult Learning Association will be holding a tutor workshop tomorrow (April 24) from 3:30-6:30 p.m. at its office at 304 Scott St.
“If someone can even spare just a few moments out of their week to help teach our learners, it would be great,” said Paulette Romaniuk, on-site instructor.
“On Tuesday, we really just want people to come together and peer share what works and what doesn’t work with regards to our literacy program.
“The tutors that we currently have on hand at the centre are all fairly new to us,” Romaniuk noted. “So we thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce them to the program and to what we do here.
“We are also hoping that some new volunteers will come out on Tuesday just to see what we are all about,” she added.
Although people are not required to make a commitment during the workshop, Romaniuk is hoping they’ll take the time to learn something about the VALA and possibly consider giving a little of their time to people who could use it.
“If someone even has a little bit of interest in either using the program or volunteering to be a tutor, we would encourage them to just stop in and visit with us,” Romaniuk said.
“People do not have to make a commitment when they come in. If they attend and find out it is not for them, that is o.k. We just want people to learn about what we do.”
With a current shortage of tutors, the VALA is holding the workshop in an effort to attract people who are willing to give a little of themselves for an important cause.
“It would be so nice to have a bank of tutors so that we could go to them whenever we needed them,” Romaniuk said. “Lately we seem to be getting more and more learners than we are tutors. We would really like to balance that out by getting some more volunteers on board.
“We are very flexible about everything,” she continued. “If the match between tutor or learner does not work, for whatever reason, we will match either the learner or the tutor up with someone else.
“All we want to do is make both our learners and volunteers comfortable. That is the most important thing to us,” she stressed.
Tutors will have the chance to choose whether they would prefer working one-on-one with the learner, or working in a classroom setting.
“When we first sit down and talk with the tutor, we discuss what they would prefer,” Romaniuk noted. “If someone is more inclined to work independently with an individual, we can accommodate that.
“We are just happy to have anyone who can take the time to spend with our learners.”