Rotary Club of Butler PM event to support BC3’s free Adult Literacy program
A service organization’s fundraiser in February will support a free Butler County Community College program that helps adults to earn a commonwealth secondary school diploma and provides fellowship to others as they learn to speak English.
The Rotary Club of Butler PM’s Luncheon for Literacy will be from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 18 in Founders Hall on the college’s main campus in Butler Township. Proceeds will benefit BC3’s Adult Literacy program.
The Rotary raised a record $20,000 in 2023 and a total of $52,000 in five Luncheons for Literacy since 2011.
Literacy is a priority for Rotary International, said Leslie Osche, Rotary Club of Butler PM secretary and Butler County commissioner.
“Being able to raise funds to support BC3’s program and help people get their diploma or learn English, and enrich opportunities in their life, is of utmost importance, of primary importance to us,” Osche said.
Without BC3’s Adult Literacy program, Osche said, “you would have people who deserve to succeed not able to do so. It helps employers in our county who are continually seeking good employees, and all of these people to find good, life-sustaining jobs.”
Juliette Godot of Butler will read from her 2022 novel, “From the Drop of Heaven,” published by Sunbury Press.
Laurel Colonello, of Valencia, will sing and play acoustic guitar while accompanied by Tony “Washboard Tony” Frochio, of Butler, a percussionist whose instruments include a cajon box, a rub board and drums.
The event will also feature brunch, gift baskets, a silent auction and a cookie bar.
Guests can choose to decorate their table in the theme of their favorite book, said Barb Gade, grant director of BC3’s Adult Literacy program.
Cearra Mackalica, 25, of Butler, will speak about earning a commonwealth secondary school diploma in November through BC3’s program and her plan to enroll this fall in the college’s general studies associate degree transfer program.
“I didn’t have the best life, and they opened their arms to me,” Mackalica said. “They helped me through the whole way. They made me feel like family. This program is for people like me who are trying to become successful.”
BC3’s high school equivalency exam preparation courses have helped at least 550 students to earn a commonwealth secondary school diploma in the past 14 years, Gade said. Thirty Butler County adults took the courses in the fall.
A record 106 Butler County adults are expected to attend English as a second language courses that begin in February, Gade said.
Native languages among students in the fall included Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish and Ukrainian, Gade said.
Arabic- and French-speaking Khadija Akhouad, 49, of Seven Fields, will discuss attending BC3’s English as a second language courses and her plan to graduate in May with an associate degree in the college’s business management career program.
Those who cannot speak English can feel isolated in the United States, Akhouad said.
“That is what happened to me,” said Akhouad, who moved from her native Morocco to Butler County in July 2019.
“My God, I am alone in this world. And I was asking myself, ‘Why did I do this? Why did I come to another world?’ Then I went to BC3. That was the right decision. That was the right place to go. I found that I was not alone.”
Seventeen graduates in BC3’s Class of 2023 had previously earned a commonwealth secondary school diploma, according to Becky Smith, the college’s director of records and registration.
Luncheon for Literacy funds help to cover the $7 cost of each of the four General Educational Development Ready Test exams taken by adults pursuing a commonwealth secondary school diploma, Gade said, and the $36 cost of each official subject area test.
Proceeds also help with classroom supplies and equipment, and professional development training needed to support the program, Gade said.
BC3’s Adult Literacy program also offers free courses in computers, financial literacy and essential skills.
Tickets are available by visiting butlerrotary.org or by calling BC3’s Adult Literacy program office at 724-287-8711 Ext. 8350.
