Staff report

In celebration of National Family Literacy Month, the Suffolk Public Schools Even Start program in collaboration with the the Center for Lifelong Learning at the Pruden Center for Industry and Technology is accepting essays, stories, poems and other writings for publication. The theme of the book is Family: Past, Present and Future.

Any adult enrolled in a pre-GED or ESOL class in Suffolk, Franklin, Isle of Wight and Southampton counties is eligible to submit prose or poetry for consideration.

The deadline for submissions is Friday, Nov. 19. A book celebration and staged reading will be held at the Suffolk Museum and Suffolk Art League on Bosley Avenue Dec. 5. The Even Start Fall Induction Ceremony will also be held at that time.

The family is the first &uot;school&uot; for any child and the parent the first and most influential teacher.

Children whose mothers complete high school earn higher scores on national achievement tests and perform better in school than those whose mothers did not graduate from high school. Kindergartners whose mothers have more education are more likely to score in the highest quartile in reading, mathematics, and general knowledge. Often adult learners have a keen appreciation of their need for knowledge, but not as much of an awareness of their ability to create knowledge for others. The goal of the book project is to celebrate family past, present and future and provide a leadership development opportunity for Even Start families and other adult learners in the community.

Partnering for Reading, Educational and Parental Preparedness (PREPP) is Suffolk Public Schools’ Even Start Family Literacy Program. The Even Start program represents an innovative combination of programs for adult basic education, parenting education and early childhood education. Focusing on parents and children as a unit, Even Start projects have three interrelated goals: to help parents become full partners in the education of their children, to assist children in reaching their full potential as learners; and to provide pre-GED and career training for their parents.

The Center for Lifelong Learning at The Pruden Center for Industry and Technology is a regional adult education program designed to serve the educational needs of adults in the City of Suffolk and Isle of Wight County. The Center’s goal is to provide a comprehensive range of programs for adults who want to improve their basic educational level, learn a new job skill, upgrade skills used on a current job, or just take classes for self-improvement and personal satisfaction.