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South Bay Literacy Council's lab director wins $1,000 prize
Erika Byczkowski, the Learning Center Director of the South Bay Literacy Council, was awarded a $1,000 first-place prize in the recent Golden Rule 2000 Award volunteer competition. The award is sponsored by the South Bay-Harbor-Long Beach Volunteer Center and JC Penney.
Byczkowski's win qualified her for the JC Penney's national competition in September, when the $10,000 Crystal Award will be presented.
Byczkowski has been the director of the Computer Learning Center (CLC) since its inception in 1993. She works with give students in need of computer and language skills. She points out that even the lowest-paid and least-skilled employees now must use computers at work.
Byczkowski retired from a distinguished career as an engineer and project leader in aerospace. She then volunteered as a classroom assistant with the Torrance Adult School. But she felt the large class sizes were not suitable for a variety of students. So she joined the Literacy Council, which offers individual and small group instruction.
"Giving new readers the technology to change their lives -- this is my life," she says.
According to the Literacy Council, 51 percent of the people in California are functionally illiterate. One third are products of American schools.
According to U.S. Department of Education surveys, illiteracy costs U.S. business many millions of dollars annually in industrial mistakes. Because illiterate parents are unable to read to their children, illiteracy is often passed on to subsequent generations.
The Literacy Council is seeking volunteer tutors to work with Byczkowski and in non-computer tutoring assignments. Foreign language and other special skills are unnecessary. The office is located in Hillside Village, 24586 Hawthorne Blvd., Torrance. For more information call 310-373-7003.