Free Online English Classes

Office of Vocational and Adult Education Launches Online English Portal

Starting today, immigrants and other adults who want to learn or improve their English skills can log on to a new free Online English Portal called USALearns. The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Vocational and Adult Education, through its Division of Adult Education and Literacy, oversaw the design of USALearns.org.

Launch of the site completes a goal set by President Bush in his August 10, 2007 announcement of initiatives to address border security and immigration challenges in the United States--a plan to have the U.S. Department of Education develop and launch a free, web-based portal to help immigrants learn English, expand their opportunities, and make effective contributions to American society."

To access or learn more about the new Portal, visit http://www.usalearns.org/ or view a fact sheet at http://www.nifl.gov/nifl/publications/pdf/USALearnsFactSheet08.pdf.

FedEx Kinko's Pitches In

Many organizations and individuals played key roles in making the 2008 Project Read Spelling Bee possible. FedEx Kinko’s really stood out among this group. When asked why his store chose to donate more than $1,000 in-kind in printed spelling bee flyers and brochures, Justin, an assistant manager from the FedEx Kinko’s store, responded, “Looking at the cause and recognizing the importance of adult literacy, I wanted to get involved. I want to be clear that I am not in this just for the business. I want to be a part of making the community better.” Justin has recently been promoted to store manager. We congratulate him and thank him for his help! Well, g2g. Thanks for helping us “change lives through literacy.”

New Student Policy

Beginning this month, Project Read now needs new students to show proof of Utah residency before they can begin our program. This can be done by showing one of the following:

• Utah Driver's license

• Utah State ID

• Utah fishing or hunting license

• Utah library card

• Utility, house, or phone bill in the student's name and uses a street address (not a PO box)

• Current car registration

• Utah high school or college report card

• Official letter from employer stating the job of the student

• Utah voter registration

~OR~

• Registration of the student's child in a Utah school

Once a student shows one of these documents (an original that Project Read can photocopy and keep in the file) and meets other Project Read requirements , the student can begin studying at Project Read.

***This new policy does not apply to those students already in our program.***