Career Services Director Answers CALL

From staff reports

Wayne Stark

When asked if he had any interest in working with a local adult literacy center, Wayne Stark, a former teacher and director of career services at Sweet Briar, answered the CALL … literally.

Since last summer, Stark has been on the board of Citizens for Adult Literacy and Learning — CALL for short. He is serving a three-year term.

“I did not have any previous volunteer work with CALL,” Stark said. “Roberta Peters, the VP of CALL knew of me as she volunteered for [career services] a couple of years ago. She asked me if I had an interest this past summer.

“I told her that I did, so I’ve been on the CALL board since about July or so. I have an interest in literacy because as a teacher for a few years before I got into the career services field the issue was important to me and it remains so for me today.”

Founded in 1991 and located in the Monroe Education Center, CALL’s mission is to “provide free, one-on-one tutoring for Amherst County adults interested in acquiring new literacy skills.”

In Amherst County, almost 25 percent of residents over the age of 25 do not have a high school diploma or GED, as compared to about 18.5 percent across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

CALL is supported entirely by grants and private donations. For more information about receiving literacy instruction, or to volunteer as a tutor, contact program coordinator Marcia Swain at 929-2630 or marcia.swain@callamherst.org .

For more information about CALL, visit http://www.callamherst.org .