Work study students in the Lindy Boggs Center are spending their time Tuesdays to do something a little extra for the community as Loyola Literacy Leaders.
Loyola’s Lindy Boggs Center created a new initiative this year called the Loyola Literacy Lagniappe in partnership with the People’s Health New Orleans Jazz Market to provide tutoring and support to anyone in the community for free.
The Loyola Literacy Lagniappe is held every Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eight Lindy Boggs Center work study students and community volunteer Richard Saxer make up the Loyola Literacy Leaders that contribute to the initiative, started by Petrice Sams-Abiodun, Lindy Boggs Center executive director.
“The center really is looking for ways, as always, to bring the aspects of the university into the community and have a significant impact,” Sams-Abiodun said.
People in the community who have received help so far include both adults and students, whether English is their first language or not.
Rachael McGee, psychology freshman, said that because the Loyola Literacy Lagniappe is currently in the beginning stages, contributors are focusing on being “ears to the community,” seeing what people need and making preparations to provide for them in the near future.
During the Loyola Literacy Lagniappe session on Sept. 22, McGee and Dashawn Renard, biological sciences freshman, met a woman who confessed that for 54 years, she had been hiding the fact that she has never been able to read and has been battling illiteracy her whole life.
“Literacy doesn’t have a face or age,” Renard said. “Anybody could be struggling with reading.”
The woman now has plans to get weekly support from the leaders.
Saxer said he reached out to Sams-Abiodun after his retirement to help adults he believes are already smart in their own right.
“With a little bit of extra assistance, they can do it,” Saxer said.
The Loyola Literacy Lagniappe is currently looking for more recruits. Anyone interested can contact Sams-Abiodun at [email protected] for more information.
