PALS Talks Literacy

Alison Howard is the Executive Director at ABC Life Literacy Canada. She is a collaborative and strategic not-for-profit leader with deep expertise in the areas of literacy, skills development, and employability at a national level. With over two decades of experience in the non-profit sector, Alison brings exceptional communication, research, and presentation skills, along with strong public policy, sponsorship, and national partnership building experience. A passionate and inclusive team-player, she empowers others and works collaboratively to create a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.

Bonnie has worked at PALS for 15 years.  She has taught countless individuals how to read in her time at PALS.  Take a listen to some of her experiences and memories from her time at PALS.

Doug has volunteers at PALS for 11 years running conversation circles for our LELL learners.  He shares his experience and the importance of dialogue in sharing culture and his beloved country, Canada.

Suzana, one of our tutors, joined us for a talk on Health Literacy.   Giving us tips and tricks for budgeting for healthy eating, things to look for on labels and what to add to your grocery cart.

Noah just finished his degree.  As a final project, he and his classmates, created a report on the impacts, barriers and possible solutions to Adult Low Literacy in Edmonton.  

Lori St. Cyr, Metis & Indigenous Liaison with the Community Learning Network talks about being Indigenous in Canada, the importance of kinship, and how to be an ally. 

Anna comes back to tell us the outcome of her project in creating a logo and website for learners with low literacy.  

Edda is not one to sit and wait for something interesting to happen.  She makes it happen.  Edda has been a volunteer at PALS for 35 years.  She is also a Ragging Granny.  Edda tells her story of why she enjoys teaching reading and writing.

Emmanuel exceeds all standards in his efforts and has taken the lessons learned at PALS and soared to new heights.  This year he won the Shirley Sandul Memorial Award. Listen to his story here.

Sandro is one of our tutors at PALS.  He worked with our learners creating videos to share their stories with the world.  Today he is sharing his story,  from the favelas in Brazil to Edmonton, Alberta and from Law to Documentary Film Maker. 

Erich Ly is a Charter Professional Accountant in Edmonton. During our chat he identifies some of the challenges that we face in our digitally driven, frictionless payment world, and breaks down how to become more financially aware.

In this episode we're talking about the importance of social and emotional literacy - how to understand what you're feeling, recognize your needs, and be able to tell others what your needs are. Hannah has a master's in social work, specializing in international and community development.

We talk with Monica (Nika) about her program LELL and the learners she is dedicated to help.

In this episode we discuss how web design and design in general can be tweaked with literacy in mind.  What do designers need to think about to make their designs more accessible to literacy learners?  We discuss with Anna a design student.

Justin and I chat about volunteering at P.A.L.S, Digital Literacy and how we at P.A.L.S. work with our learners to problem solve our way through the digital world.   

Monica Das introduces us to P.A.L.S. - Project Adult Literacy Society a local charity in Edmonton, that offers the free tutoring services. She explains the importance of Literacy in society and the links between literacy and all aspects of life.