Karina Wegelius, ESL Class Supervisor, and Linda Wolfson, Vita’s Executive Director, accept First Federal of Bucks County’s gift from Bruce Iacobucci, the bank’s President and CEO

First Federal of Bucks County presented a gift of $10,000 to Vita Education Services to be used to help assist in funding the vital Literacy Programs that Vita offers.

Bruce C. Iacobucci, First Federal’s President and CEO, presented the check to Karina Wegelius, English as a Second Language (ESL) Class Supervisor of Vita and Linda Wolfson, Executive Director of Vita at the Administration and Loan Center of the bank.

“We’re very pleased to be able to support Vita and the significant good it does in the community” said Iacobucci “With the changing economy and the levels of federal funding given to organizations like Vita decreasing, we are happy to be able to assist in the need for literacy programs that will help Bucks County residents”

 Vita Education Services offers programs in Literacy, Personal Decision Making and Decisions for Teens. They provide classes, one-on-one tutoring and small group instruction in Literacy and ESL through eight sites within the county. They also have a family literacy program in Bensalem in collaboration with Head Start. In addition, they serve both men and women in the Bucks County Correctional Facility with literacy tutoring, decision-making tutoring and groups, and job-readiness training.

 Founded in 1971, Vita is funded by the PA Department of Adult Education and Literacy, United Way of Bucks County, fee for service programs, the County and Courts of Bucks, foundations, and donations from civic organizations, corporations, churches and individuals. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations, donations are tax deductible.

KIM WEIMER / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

(Friday, April 2, 2010) Reprinted with permission from The Intelligencer and Courier newspapers.
By Rachel Canelli
STAFF WRITER

 Coming to a classroom near you . . .
More than a dozen teens from the Council Rock and Bristol area school districts filmed a video this week at Council Rock High School South in Holland that will be part of Vita Education Services Education Services’ Decisions for Teens program.

 The plan uses relevant personal stories to teach a five-step interactive process for seventh through 12^th graders making decisions in real-life situations about school, family peer relationships, alcohol, drugs or sex, said Linda Wolfson, Vita Education Service’s executive director.

 For example, in one of the scenes, students will see a seemingly popular guy get nervous about asking a girl to dance.

 “A lot of young people don’t get it until they see it,“ said Sheryl Miller Hosey, a CR-South English teacher who participated in the filming. “This is trying to help kids understand that just because something seems one way on the outside, that doesn’t mean it’s the same on the inside.”       

Teens need something like that, according to GiGi Northrop, 16, a sophomore at Bristol Borough Junior/Senior High.

 “I’ve seen kids that don’t make good decisions and end up pregnant or on drugs,” GiGi said. “If they see someone they know in a video like this, it might make them think about things a little more because they need guidance. They won’t go far if they make rash decisions.”

 The idea behind the program is to help teenagers develop an awareness of their thoughts and feelings and responsibility for the control they have over their actions and attitudes, Wolfson said.

 Sean Baron, 18, a senior at CR South, said the fact that the film had such a purpose made taping so much more meaningful.

 “There are definitely kids who aren’t in the best situations,” he said. “People make mistakes. So, it’s worth giving our time to show them what not to do by setting that example.”

Foundations Community Partnership’s BIIG grants are offered on a competitive basis to non-profit human services organizations providing services to children and youth in Bucks County. BIIG grants of $82,500 were awarded this year to 10 eligible grant applicants who will be developing innovative ideas and improving the quality of life for children, youth, and families in Bucks County. 

“We are grateful to Foundations Community Partnership for its generous contribution,” said Linda Wolfson, Executive Director of Vita.  “This grant will be invaluable in helping us to move forward with our Decisions for Teens program.” 

Vita Education Services provides quality educational programs that help individuals gain skills that enhance their ability to deal with real-life situations, meet personal goals and become more self-determining and self-sufficient. Vita Education Services is the lead literacy agency in Bucks County and the largest provider of educational services in the Bucks County Correctional Facilities.

Through literacy and decision making programs, Vita brings learning to life for Bucks County adults, families and at-risk youth by helping them to develop skills that create opportunities for themselves, their families, and, in turn, the community.  More information about Vita’s services and programs is available at www.vitaeducation.org.

Foundations Community Partnership is a private non-profit operating foundation that supports behavioral health education and research, provides grants for non-profit organizations, awards scholarships to Bucks County high school seniors, subsidizes service learning internships for college students and underwrites community education programs. To learn more about FCP and its mission visit their website at www.fcpartnership.org  or contact them at 267-247-5584.

Doylestown, PA – June. 18, 2010

Potential students can find information about registration and orientation for our free ESL and GED classes. Adults interested in volunteering can learn about our literacy and Personal Decision Making tutoring opportunities and check for upcoming training sessions. Videos about our literacy tutoring opportunities, the Language Experience Approach to tutoring and our Decisions for Teens program are available on our website and our YouTube Channel. The opportunities to purchase Vita’s Language Experience Approach DVD and to support Vita’s programs through donations are also available.

The Vita website provides current students, volunteer tutors, and teachers with valuable learning resources and materials. The latest news and events are posted to keep everyone up-to-date on Vita’s wide-ranging programs and services. Visit www.vitaeducation.org and see how you can be part of our important mission.

• Advanced Reading and Writing ESL Groups at St. Mary Bensalem Family Center
• A program for beginning literacy students that combines individual tutoring, small group sessions and Reading Horizons online instruction
• Personal Decision Making and Jobs Readiness programs in the Bucks County Correctional Facility to help inmates gain skills to become more self-determining and self-sufficient upon release
• English for All – A new ESL computer-based course offered in Doylestown
• Advanced Conversation ESL Class at St. Mary Bensalem Family Center
• Reading Horizons online program for low level literacy students and intermediate level ESL students
• Tutor-led Pre-GED groups in Lower and Upper Bucks County
• ESL class for mothers at the YMCA for the Bristol Township School District

“We are grateful to Comcast for its generous contribution,” said Linda Wolfson, Executive Director of Vita. “Our students’ learning will be greatly enhanced through the grant from The Comcast Foundation. It will enable us to purchase quality materials to support contextualized instruction, which places emphasis on skill improvement within the context of employment, parent education and citizenship.”

Vita Education Services provides quality educational programs that help individuals gain skills that enhance their ability to deal with real-life situations, meet personal goals and become more self-determining and self-sufficient. Vita Education Services is the lead literacy agency in Bucks County and the largest provider of educational services in the Bucks County Correctional Facilities. Through literacy and decision making programs, Vita brings learning to life for Bucks County adults, families and at-risk youth by helping them to develop skills that create opportunities for themselves, their families, and, in turn, the community.

The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified non-profit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation’s focus areas are volunteerism, literacy, and youth leadership development. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated more than $64 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/InTheCommunity.

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communication products and services. With 23.8 million cable customers, 15.7 million high-speed Internet customers, and 7.4 million Comcast Digital Voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.