Raise-a-Reader: Gaby and Jose Santos overcome hardship through learning together


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Jose Santos credits the Vancouver Canucks with helping him learn to read.

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At four, Jose’s mother Gaby enrolled him in Get Ready 2 Read (GR2R), a Canucks Family Education Centre program at Britannia Elementary School. As part of GR2R, various Canucks would read to the kids.

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Jose found this very inspiring.

“To see a hockey player who has been so successful in life and to be able to use that person as a role model really encouraged me and others to read and learn and appreciate reading,” he said.

The CFEC also helped Gaby Santos. Through the organization, she took high school upgrading classes taught by VSB teachers.

“I took classes to learn English,” she said. “I didn’t have money at the time, and they provided me with food vouchers and bus tickets and connected me to other programs. I was able to graduate from high school.”

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While Gaby and her fellow adult learners attended classes, CFEC looked after Jose and the rest of their kids in a separate room.

“I was happy because I knew my son as in a safe place and he was able to learn and meet other children,” said Gaby, who came to Canada from Mexico City in 2002.

Gaby has since graduated with her B.C. high school diploma and finished an Early Childhood Education Assistant program through a partnership with the Native Education College and CFEC.

Later, in elementary school, Jose struggled with reading and writing.

“It was clear when he got into the school system that he had some learning disabilities,” said Jean Rasmussen, founder and executive director of CFEC.

“We helped Gaby understand that he needed to be assessed, and he got the help he needed because he was diagnosed.”

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The CFEC continued to help the Santos with food vouchers and other support as Jose moved through the school system.

“We see the need for a continuity of learning for families and support along the way,” Rasmussen said. “We tracked the Santos to the point where we supported the family until Jose graduated from high school. It’s not just about helping children in a preschool setting but over a longer period, and asking how can we continue to support children and families throughout the system?”

In high school, Jose’s interest in making things led him to courses that involved hands-on learning. Now 17, he he’s entering BCIT in January to take carpentry.

“The reading program helped me a lot,” he said. “Without it I wouldn’t be able to read as well as I can. I read anything from articles to newspapers to books to graphic novels. Anything I can get my hands on.”

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In a statement about CFEC, Jose wrote, “When I see CFEC, I don’t just see blue and green; I see a rainbow of colours. Colours that represent a wide range of cultures and ethnicities. Canucks Family Education Centre doesn’t care if you’re Asian, African-American, Latino, or white; it’s a place where everyone can come together and form a community where, regardless of skin colour, they’re there to help when you need it the most. I am proud to be a part of that community and grateful for what it has given me; without it, I would have struggled to complete high school.”


How to donate

Since its launch in 1997, Raise-a-Reader has provided more than $21 million to promote literacy in B.C. The literacy campaign supports programs across the province such as Partners in Education Plus, which is offered by the Canucks Family Education Centre. The Canucks Centre offers literacy programs for families through intergenerational and lifelong learning support that are partly supported by Raise-a-Reader.

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You can make a donation any time. Here’s how:

• Online at raiseareader.com

• By phone, at 604.681.4199

• By cheque, payable to Vancouver Sun Raise-a-Reader:

1125 Howe St., #980

Vancouver, B.C. V6Z 2K8

Facebook: facebook.com/raiseareadervan/

Twitter: @RARvancouver


Literacy is a tool everyone needs

The literacy skills of almost half of British Columbians aged 16 to 65 may make it difficult for them to understand newspapers, following instruction manuals, reading health information, filling out a tax return, reading a rental agreement or using a library catalogue, according to Decoda Literacy Solutions, B.C.’s provincial literacy organization.

And about half of the province’s population of the same age may have difficulty calculating interest on a car loan, using information on a graph or determining medicine dosage, according to Decoda, which provides resources, training, funds and support for community-based literacy programs and initiatives in 400-plus B.C. communities.

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Some 16 per cent of British Columbians (or 700,000) were at a Level 1 literacy or below in 2012, according to an international survey (the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies) that 27,000 Canadians participated in.

Level 1 literacy means struggling with filling out a form at work, navigating a website, finding information in a list sent home from preschool, using information on a food label or comparison shopping.

It says improved literacy at home can help Canadians enjoy better health, manage their finances, understand their rights and responsibilities and legal proceedings and pass on their literacy skills to their children.

At work, it can also improve employment prospects, increase earnings, decrease work-related stress by being more efficient and accurate at work, and increasing their likelihood of participating in adult education and job-related training.

And in the community, it can increase community participation and volunteering, political involvement and increase the likelihood of inclusion in society.

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