History of Teton Literacy Program:
The Teton Literacy Program was founded in 1992 in response to the evident need for basic literacy education in Teton County. Concerned community members wrote to the Federal Government seeking VISTA grant monies to provide Volunteer Staff to establish the program. Kirsten Corbett and Nancy Lee started the Teton Literacy Program, which initially served one Adult Literacy Client. As requests for services grew, the founders trained volunteers to work one-on-one with clients.
In 1994, the Teton Literacy Program formed a Board of Directors to support the expansion and future of the program. The Board hired the first Executive Director in 1995 to work 75% of the year. Services expanded to include Adult English Language Learners as well as library and workplace education programs. 1997 saw the introduction of Adult Classes and America Reads based programs aimed at elementary school students.
In 1999, the Board hired its first full-time, year-round Executive Director and Program Coordinator. The number of students served by the Teton Literacy Program in the course of a year expanded to over 100. The year 2000 marked the inception of the I Can! Children’s Book Project bringing a unique literacy initiative to over 170 second grade students every year. In 2001, the Teton Literacy Program moved into a new space with three classrooms and a growing resource library. The Program also increased its staff to four full-time positions, in order to provide services for its growing number of clients.
As the program continues to grow to meet the changing and expanding needs of the Teton County community, the Teton Literacy Program has introduced an intensive children’s reading clinic; in-school, after-school, and summer reading programs for children; seven 5-week sessions of Adult English Classes; as well as ongoing one-on-one tutoring opportunities for English Language Learners and Adult Literacy Clients which serve up to 80 clients at any given time.
2000/01 the I CAN Book Project was implemented, a project designed to instill the love of writing through a hands-on approach to all Teton County second graders.
2001/02 as a part of America Reads, a nationwide initiative designed to ensure that all children read at grade level by the third grade, TLP offers the STARS program (Students and Tutors Achieving Reading Success) to all K-5 students.
2003/04 Drop-In and topic-specific classes are added to the Adult ELL program along with one-on-one adult tutoring. La Puerta Abierta, the Latino Family Literacy Project began by promoting academic success for K-5 students by helping parents increase their English skills and understanding how to navigate school culture.
2006/7 brought the Work-base English classes to fruition; offering customized English classes to area businesses.
2007/8 has been a great year! Our Children’s Program graduated 8 students in the tutoring program. TLP serviced 23 students with one-on-one tutoring. Our after school middle school program serviced 9 students focusing on US history as the means to facilitate their ESL needs.
Teton Literacy Program brought Spanish to the community for the first time in TLP history. TLP is proud to be an active participant in reducing language barriers. In 2007/8 we serviced 142 students in Spanish representing 32 local businesses. With the introduction of our Spanish classes, TLP was able to initiate a new Language Exchange Program; pairing up language learners wanting to practice their language skills. The Writer’s Notebook was implemented into all three Teton Literacy Program programs. We believe that the written element is essential in literacy. Our summer opportunities have taken a different approach this year, we have collaborated Jackson Hole Parks and Rec to offer a literacy component to their summer camp program.