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OUR STAFF

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Elizabeth Hart
Executive Director 

elizabeth.hart@literacyCV.org

(715) 834-0222

Elizabeth Hart worked for CESA 10 for 15 years in Education Technology as a distance learning French Teacher. She shifted her focus to the non-profit sector and has worked in the arts and education for the last 7 years. In her spare time she consults for the Eau Claire Chamber Orchestra. Hart earned a PhD in French from SUNY Buffalo, an MA in Comparative Literature from UMASS-Amherst and a BA in Music and Comparative Literature from UW-Madison. She is passionate about reading and wants to kindle that spirit in others.

Aryn Widule
Marketing and ELL Coordinator

awidule@lvcv.org
(715) 834-0222

Aryn comes to Literacy Chippewa Valley with a bachelor's and master's in English and creative writing from the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. He moved to Eau Claire in 2001 from northern Wisconsin and never left. Since then he has spent time in marketing and development, helping small businesses grow to better serve the community. He has a special interest in criminal justice reform and education and will be teaching adult English classes at Literacy Chippewa Valley as well. 

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Amanda Robelia
ELL Instructor

arobelia@lvcv.org
(715) 834-0222

Amanda has a BFA with a concentration in graphic design from UW-Stout. She started her career at Leader-Telegram as a graphic designer and has since enjoyed working with nonprofits in the community of Eau Claire. Amanda enjoys learning new languages and about new cultures. She is a freelance designer/artist and teaches adult English classes at Literacy Chippewa Valley. 

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Annabelle Abbe
Childcare Instructor

(715) 834-0222

Annabelle Abbe graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Eau Claire with a Bachelor's degree in Communication Sciences and Disorders with a minor in Psychology and certificates in Interdisciplinary Linguistics and American Sign Language. She’s been working with kids for four years. Annabelle spent 4 weeks in Cape Town, South Africa doing a Child Life Practicum. She’s excited to join the team at Literacy Chippewa Valley and educate children.

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Dawn Lueck
Corrections Instructor
dlueck@lvcv.org
(715) 834-0222

Dawn Lueck has a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from UW-Eau Claire.  She worked for the DOC as a Probation and Parole Agent for 16 years before taking a job with ECASD in a middle school working with behavioral teens.  She moved within the district to work at Juvenile Detention before moving back to an adult correctional setting.  Dawn works for Literacy Chippewa Valley as the educator for the Eau Claire and Chippewa County Jails.  Her passion is giving hope to those who may be hopeless.  She believes everyone has the ability to become better.  Dawn has always lived in the Chippewa Valley and loves it here.  She enjoys spending time with her family on her hobby farm. 

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OUR BOARD

Nicole Breed
President

Librarian and Instructor, Chippewa Valley Technical College
 

Nicole Breed is an instructor and librarian at Chippewa Valley Technical College. She is from Chippewa Falls and now lives in Altoona with her family. She attended the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire, earning a BS in Elementary Education and Library Science as well as an MS in Teaching Reading. Nicole believes that literacy is a social justice issue and she’s excited to empower our community by serving on the board of Literacy Chippewa Valley.

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Kate Cook
Vice President/Secretary
Attorney, Public Defender's Office

Kate is active in the community on the library board and CVTC legal studies advisory committee, and sometimes spins records at the Lakely for Vinyl Night. Kate grew up in Cornell, and has experience working in literacy programs in the area. She is very excited to be a member of the board in Eau Claire.

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Dillon Herrick
Board Member
Founder, Clearwater Assisted Living, LLC

Dillon Herrick was born and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He joined the Marine Corps when he was 18 and served until 2018. He moved to Monterey, California, with his wife and attended Hartnell College and California State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB). Dillon graduated Hartnell College Class Valedictorian with an AS Business Administration, AS Liberal Arts Political Science, and AA Economics. He graduated with a 4.0 from CSUMB with a bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Accounting Concentration. Dillon was also awarded the CSU Trustees' Award for Outstanding Achievement, the highest commendation the CSU system has to bestow. After graduation, Dillon moved back to Eau Claire in the spring of 2022 and opened Clearwater Assisted Living, LLC with his business partners. His company provides in-home health services to adults.

Heather Felty

Board Member

Publisher, Inner Peace Press

An Eau Claire native, Heather Felty founded Inner Peace Press in 2021 to publish books by independent authors who share inspiring stories from their own lived experiences, with the hopes of supporting others on their journey of self discovery. Heather also teaches online yoga philosophy courses to help others learn to quiet the noise, find their focus, and put themselves first for a change. As a life-long avid reader, Heather is proud to support the efforts of Literacy Chippewa Valley to improve the literacy of people in our community and to help break the cycle of poverty.  

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Allison Shepard

Board Member

Attorney, Herrick & Hart

Allison Shepard is an attorney at Herrick & Hart, S.C. where her practice focuses primarily on civil litigation and family law. Allison originally hails from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and moved to the Eau Claire area in 2015. She attended Loyola University Chicago for her bachelor’s degree and Marquette University for her J.D. An avid lifelong reader, Allison attributes her love of reading to her mother, a retired elementary school librarian. Allison is excited to serve on the Literacy Chippewa Valley board and help to empower those in our community through literacy.

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Macie Neitzel
Board Member
Human Resource Generalist, Stable Living LLP

Macie Neitzel is a human resource generalist with Stable Living LLP, an assisted living company. As a human resource generalist, she is focused on recruitment and hiring with Stable Living LLP, as well as administrative tasks such as on-boarding, social media and managing their website. Macie is from Alma, WI but moved to the Chippewa Valley after completing her bachelors and master's degree at UW-Stout. Her education and training are focused on applied psychology and organizational development. Macie lives in Chetek with her dog, Lucy who enjoys going to the dog park and sleeping in!

Daniel Schierenbeck
Board Member
President, Immanuel Lutheran High School, College, and Seminary

Dan also teaches both high school and college English classes at Immanuel Lutheran. He earned a B.A. in Pre-Theology from Immanuel Lutheran, an M.A. in English from the University of Wisconsin—Eau Claire, and a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Tennessee. Before returning to Eau Claire in 2019, Dan was an English professor at the University of Central Missouri for seventeen years and served as department chair for six years. He loves to read and is eager to help others attain the practical benefits and the sheer joy of reading.

Richard Coates
Board Member
Operations Manager, Wiplfi LLP

Encompassing the Service Desk for Managed Services and the Technical Operations team, he studied Computer Science and the University of Western Sydney (Australia) and has over 23 years’ experience in the Service Management and IT Operations space. Richard has participated in the ‘Leadership Eau Claire’ and the ‘Leadership Chippewa Falls’ programs, and has a deep affinity for the Chippewa Valley arriving in the United States in 2019. Richard believes in empowerment through literacy and is excited to help grow literacy in the community by serving on the board.

Brooke Hartman
Board Member

Sales Executive, JAMF

Brooke lives in Eau Claire with her husband and two school-aged children. She is a graduate of UW- Eau Claire with a degree in Social Work, and also holds a Master’s Degree from UW-Madison Madison. Prior to working at Jamf, Brooke was a social worker working primarily with children and families. Brooke’s love for reading comes from her two children, who are never without a book. She and her family love to travel, visit the library, and attend local events. Brooke has witnessed first-hand the power of literacy and the lasting impacts it can have on one’s life and looks forward to serving on the Literacy Chippewa Valley board.

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What We Do

We teach students and train volunteers to teach reading, writing, math, computer skills, work skills, GED and citizenship using evidence based teaching methodology.

What is evidence-based instruction?  According to the International Reading Association (IRA), evidence-based instruction is an instructional approach, practice, or methodology that is derived from empirical research, resulting in reliable, trustworthy, and valid information suggesting that a program or practice is effective and that all proofs are scientifically based.  Professional wisdom, based on educators’ individual experiences are also sources of evidence.

The National Research Council has identified that adult education teachers help to advance learner goals when they:

  • Explicitly address foundation of reading and writing

  • Combine teaching and extensive practice using diverse and differentiated materials and approaches well-suited to learner

  • Develop leaners’ skills to ensure transference to highly valued tasks external to the classroom

  • Adjust instruction through frequent monitoring of and feedback on student progress.

An overview of studies on evidence-based research also suggests that effective instruction includes:

  • Designing learner-centered instruction

  • Developing standards-based instructional units and lesson plans

  • Using instructional techniques based in adult learning theory

  • Designing instruction to build on learners’ technology and media skills.

 

What does research tell us about adults learning to read? Unlike normally progressing young readers who have even reading profiles, 95% of ABE readers tend to have very uneven reading profiles. Standardized reading assessments are not sufficient. The TABE (Tests of Adult Basic Education) only measures text comprehension and does not provide any information about learners’ alphabetic, vocabulary and fluency skills. Educators find that it is helpful to use diagnostic assessments to pinpoint the individual needs of their learners and plan instruction that accelerates their reading acquisition. We determined that there is a need to provide our students with diagnostic testing. The answer came when we were invited to participate in STudent Achievement in Reading (STAR) Trainings.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE) has developed STAR to provide states with the resources and training needed to improve the quality of reading instruction in adult education. STudent Achievement in Reading (STAR) was created to improve the reading achievement of intermediate-level adult learners (GLE 4.0-8.9) in ABE. STAR provides teachers and administrators with web-based tools that translate reading research into practice, and high-quality training and technical assistance to build capacity for reading reform. The research produced findings that together form the basis of evidence-based practices. Among them:

There are four key component areas of reading: alphabetics (phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding), fluency (the ability to read accurately, at an appropriate rate, and with prosody), vocabulary, and comprehension. Learners’ strengths and weaknesses need to be assessed in each of the four components. Instruction should be based on assessment results. Instruction should be systematic, sequenced, direct, and explicit. Instruction and materials need to be engaging and relevant to learners’ needs. Instruction must be continuously monitored, by teacher and learners, to gauge its effectiveness. Those are exactly the practices that we use in education classes.

Our History

Created in 1986 by a group of individuals who saw a need in the community to teach English to Hmong refugees, the organization was first called Literacy Volunteers of America Chippewa Valley.  In 1988 Family Literacy program was added.

In 2007 the name was shortened to Literacy Volunteers Chippewa Valley (LVCV).

During our strategic planning sessions in 2015 the Board of Directors decided to update our name to Literacy Chippewa Valley (LCV).  Of  the 77 Wisconsin Literacy member agencies, only one other agency includes the word volunteer in its organizational title. Of the over 200 non profits in the Chippewa Valley, nearly all agencies utilize volunteers.  None of them include the word volunteers in their title.  We heard from many stakeholders and funders that they thought we were all volunteers.  Although we depend on volunteer tutors, we have a small paid highly educated staff to assess students, match them with the appropriate tutor and train and support tutors.

Over the years we have been recognized nationally, regionally and at the state level as an exemplary literacy program. Past awards include:

  • Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Adult Education and Literacy Programs, awarded by the U.S. Department of Education. (1998)

  • Literacy Volunteers of America Exemplary Practices Award (2000);

  • Governor’s Workforce Innovation Award (2000);

  • First Lady Jessica Doyle Award for Family Literacy (2005);

  • Advocacy Champion Award from the National Center for Family Literacy (2006); and

  • ProLiteracy Accreditation – highest national standards for volunteer literacy programs. (2009)

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