A beaming group of New Yorkers, including 50 year-old Linda Swinson of Sheepshead Bay, 46 year-old Adwoa Nyamekye of Flatbush and 34 year-old Mourad Dahmoun of Fort Hamilton, took center stage and demonstrated skills that would have been unimaginable just a year ago: they read out loud from essays, stories, and poems that they themselves had written.
These adults were among six students honored at the Literacy Partners Student and Volunteer Recognition Celebration where they were applauded for their dramatic accomplishments in learning to read and write.
Literacy Partners, Inc. is the only nationally accredited adult literacy program serving New York City.
Swinson, Nyamekye, Dahmoun and other honorees showcased their newly acquired literacy skills at this annual event held at Our Lady of Pompeii Church in Manhattan. The ceremony was attended by family, friends and supporters as well as Literacy Partners volunteer tutors and staff.
The student readers were representative of nearly 3.7 million New York adults who cannot read above the fifth grade level. Approximately 2,000 New York City adult students participate in Literacy Partners programs every year where they learn the basic literacy skills essential to live a full life as individuals, parents and citizens.
