Get Involved
There are many ways to be involved with the community through our programs. You can:
Be a learner
Donate to our programming
Volunteer as a tutor, a board member, in the kitchen or garden, or in other ways
Host a work experience for one of our learners at your business
Be a Learner
Assessment
When you come to VCLA, you will tell us about yourself and your learning goals. We will do an assessment with you, to help us understand what you have learned and what you need to learn next. We can help you to find the best learning pathway to reach your goal.
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Waiting List
VCLA keeps an Awaiting Training list. When an adult wants to enroll in classes, some basic contact information is requested. It is important that adults on the Request for Services list keep their contact information up-to-date and watch for a message from VCLA.
Daytime GED classes run September through June each year, and have continuous intake. Evening GED classes are offered as needed. The wait-time for English classes is usually six weeks or less. Tutoring matches are often made within two months of the request being approved. Wait time for placement in career- and employment-focused programs can be longer, from six months to a year or more, depending on the need in the community.
While most of our core programs have regular intakes, some of our programs depend upon funding agreements with government which can be unpredictable. In these cases, we try to keep learners up to date on when programs might begin, but it is always fine to call the office for an update.
Donate
We like to be able to help our learners to improve their lives. Whenever we can, we provide or facilitate wrap-around supports. We do our best to help with food, transportation, communication and digital connection, and school supplies. Anything that you donate to VCLA for learners’ use will be channeled to a person who needs it.
We currently are seeking financial donations, food for learners, bikes, school supplies, computers and peripherals.
Tutor
Help an adult learner. VCLA tutors give one-to-one, in-home or online tutoring for adults of all ages. The most common subjects tutored are ABE Math, ABE English, CAEC (formerly GED) preparation, and English language for newcomers, but many special tutor-learner matches have been made, to help learners reach their specific goals.
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Volunteer tutors work in a number of places. Many work at VCLA’s Learning Centre at 49 Cornwallis Street, suite 106 in Kentville. Others work at the Annapolis County location in Middleton: the Nova Scotia Community College site. Tutors also work in churches, community centres, and libraries. We will help you find a location that is convenient for you and your learner.
We offer orientation training for all volunteer tutors as well as more specific training throughout the year as needs are identified. There is also a comprehensive practitioner training and certification program offered through Literacy Nova Scotia, which is available at no cost for all volunteers working through VCLA. For more information about this training program, go to: www.ns.literacy.ca/ptc.htm.
We have two tutor matching coordinators, one for the English as an additional language program, one for the literacy and GED program. The coordinators help volunteer tutors access the training they need, make a match with an appropriate learner, locate resources and provide ongoing support.
Are you ready to be a volunteer tutor?
Host a work experience placement
If you are a supportive employer who cares about developing our workforce, consider taking a VCLA learner on a work experience placement. Talk to us about wage subsidies that may be available.
Volunteer
Let us know if you have time to help out. There are so many things that VCLA would love to have qualified help with throughout the year – Valley Community Supper, gardening, health and safety, administration, planning and evaluation, and grant-writing to name a few. From January till June the Literacy Mile fundraising committee works to plan and run a campaign to gather support from the community.
Join the Board
VCLA’s Board of Directors meetings take place once a month, September through June. Our meetings are open to everyone who is interested in VCLA.
Contact us to plan to attend and get to know more about us.
