This year the Adult Literacy Tutors Association will turn 25.
Since 1992, Alta has provided free classes to people over the age of 16 living in Trinidad and Tobago, helping to improve the levels of literacy in our country.
Back in 2012 when we turned 20, we calculated that at least 10,000 people had benefitted from Alta’s literacy programme.
As we take in, on average 800 new students annually, to date at the very least 14,000 people living in Trinidad and Tobago have benefitted from Alta classes.
Alta currently serves over 1,000 students who are taught by almost 300 tutors at 44 venues around the country.
In 2016, we were also able to reopen our classes in Grenada which were disrupted by Hurricane Ivan in 2004.
We plan to mark this year with the launch of an exciting new programme and events celebrating our quarter of a century in Trinidad.
If you have been thinking about becoming an Alta tutor for some time, this year is the perfect one to do so.
Come join our well-established team of tutors as we celebrate 25 years of teaching adults in Trinidad to read and write.
Give us a call today and come in to one of our three offices (Belmont—624-2582, San Fernando—653-4656 or Arima—664-2582) to do an interview, which will give you some more insight on what it means to be an Alta tutor and determine whether Alta is a match for you.
The prerequisites to becoming an Alta Tutor are a Grade 1 or 2 in CSEC English and the ability to commit to teaching for one academic year.
If at the end of the interview you find that you are unable to become an Alta Tutor, you have the option to become an Alta Reading Circle Guide which is less time consuming, or assist us in another capacity.
We are always looking for people with experience and knowledge in marketing, communications or event-planning, even more-so now, as we plan and launch exciting initiatives to celebrate our 25th year.
If you do decide to continue with the process, you will then have the opportunity to meet our students during the observation period.
During this period you sit in on an Alta class of your choice for eight consecutive visits.
Observation is a prerequisite for Alta’s annual Tutor Training Course, and volunteers will not be offered the opportunity to be trained without successfully completing observation.
Once observation is complete you are then ready to be trained.
You do not need to be a teacher or have any experience with literacy, education or even volunteerism before coming to Alta. Alta provides training for all tutor volunteers.
Training is a very important period on the Alta calendar, and is done over six weeks between April/May.
Space is limited, and only 100 volunteers are trained annually for the intensive course. Training gives volunteers the skills necessary to deliver the Alta Programme.
Volunteers who complete the training will choose a class venue where they will begin their year of volunteer service.
Teaching is the practical component of Alta’s Tutor Training Course and volunteers must complete 150 contact hours of teaching, or an academic year to be certified as an adult literacy tutor. Newly trained tutors are placed with an experienced tutor to team teach at a venue of their choice.
Once you complete this process you will begin teaching in September 2017 just before our 25th anniversary celebrations which you will certainly be a part of. Call today and join the Alta team as we celebrate 25 years of literacy in T&T.
More info
Volunteer, Donate or Sponsor-a-student. Call 624-2582 or email Altapos.tt@gmail.com for more info. Keep up to date with Alta on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram: Alta TT