Published June 2003

Literacy classes to go
high tech thanks to grant

SCBJ Staff

This spring, Edmonds Community College received a grant from Verizon to establish a computer lab for adults enrolled in beginning English as a Second Language classes.

The $18,000 grant, which the school applied for in February and received in April, will pay for computers, a printer, literacy software and technical support for the Information Literacy Computer Lab and to attract low-income adults to the college.

With the addition of the computer lab, EdCC will teach computer skills and information literacy as part of its ESL training for beginning students.

All students in the program will learn to use e-mail and the Internet so that they can better communicate, get information and participate in society, the college said.

Previously, only advanced ESL students had access to computers on campus, said EdCC spokeswoman Michele Graves. With the grant funding, not only will there be computers available for beginning students, but there also will be English-teaching software appropriate for that level.

The new lab will be available beginning in the fall, Graves said.

EdCC’s ESL program was established in 1973 to enhance the cultural and academic literacy of non-native English speakers in the community and prepare them for college. It serves a growing population, with more than 1,000 students enrolled quarterly, representing 23 ethnic language groups. Classes are free to immigrants, refugees and citizens of the United States.

For more information about the program, call 425-640-1478 or go to http://abeesl.edcc.edu/ on the Web.

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