Earlier this year NJALL held its fourth annual adult learner writing contest. All of the winners and selected other submissions have been collected in a magazine entitled Insight. You can download a free pdf of the magazine at the link below. The five entry categories were fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry and photography. 
Several winners read and discussed their work during a workshop at the annual NJALL conference.   We hope you will use the magazine in your classes and your volunteer lessons. 
We'd like to thank all of the students who participated and all of the teachers and tutors that made it possible. Every year it is an honor to read the students' work, and we are happy to be able to share it with you now.

On June 22, we celebrated our two newest scholarship award winners, Katie Land and Ruth Rivera.  Scholarship winners from previous years gave advice to help them keep going as they pursue their goals through higher education.  NJALL board members, committee members, winners' family, teachers and supporters, as well as members of the community wish Katie and Ruth well!

Please join us  as we award and celebrate our 2018 Scholarship Winners, Katherine Land and Ruth Rivera.  The Awards Ceremony and Breakfast will be on June 22 at Mercer County Community College Conference Center, 1200 Old Trenton Rd, West Windsor, NJ 08550, 9:30-11:30 AM.

Katherine "Katie" Land is from West Long Branch, NJ.  She prepared for her High School Diploma at Brookdale Youth GED and Career Pathways Program and now attends Brookdale Community College.

Ruth Rivera is from Elizabeth, NJ and will attend Union County College.  She studied for her High School Diploma with Literacy New Jersey at the Elizabeth Public Library.

COST: ONLY $15.00 per person
Deadline to sign up: June 14, 2018

Read about NJALL initiatives and activities in our Spring Newsletter.  Articles include: The Importance of Being Vigilant, NJALL participates in COABE Capitol Hill Day, 2018 NJALL Scholarship Information, 2017 NJALL Award Winners, and much more.

Click here to download your copy.

Thousands of New Jersey adults needing basic reading skills, high school diplomas and English language skills are turned away from programs because of inadequate funding. In addition, businesses in New Jersey cannot find literate and trained individuals for their workplace needs.

It is vital for New Jersey’s economy and for our citizenry that we re-establish state funding for adult education to compensate for reductions in federal subsidies. 

In 2007 35,400 students were served through a robust network of adult education programs.  By 2017 that number had fallen to 16,702.

Providing the necessary state funds to enroll 18,700 more students at $1,000
per student would require a state appropriation of  $18,700,000.  This appropriation would provide invaluable and life changing opportunities for adults with limited skills. Equally important, it would open up employment opportunities for these individuals and for NJ businesses.

NJALL has developed several tools which you can use when asking your elected representatives to support adult education.  Here are several advocacy briefs you can share:

• NJ Adult Ed facts
• Help Eligible Immigrants Become Citizens
• Integrate High-skilled Immigrants

Here are sample letters that you can customize:

• Sample Educator letter
• Sample Student letter

Find your New Jersey State representatives through this interactive map.

For more information about NJALL's advocacy efforts, go to our youtube channel to listen to the March 22 webinar: Potential Changes in Federal 
Support for Adult Education: What They Mean for New Jersey, What they Mean for Advocacy

Look for more information soon about how we can advocate for State funding for adult education in New Jersey.

For the past four years, NJALL has held a learner writing contest. Each year we
receive about 75 submissions from all around the state. We continue to be humbled by students’ willingness to share their ideas, memories and feelings. As is often the case in adult education, some of the things the writers shared dealt with personal experiences that were life-changing or traumatic. We hope that the writing process is a positive one and that participating in the contest has been an encouraging learning experience.

You can read Insight, volume 3 (2017 submissions) here.
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Once again this year we have invited some of the contest winners to present
their work at the annual NJALL conference. The learners read from their winning submissions and then take questions from the attendance. Come to the conference on May 11, to hear these presentations for yourself and meet the 2018 contest winners.

Thanks again to all the writers, teachers and reviewers that made this magazine possible.

Erik Jacobson
Chair, NJALL Learner Writing Contest

Learn about potential changes in Federal support for adult education: what they mean for New Jersey, and what they mean for advocacy.  March 22, 2018.  11:00 AM to noon.

​Art Ellison (New Hampshire's Director of Adult Education and longtime adult education advocate) will review what is happening at the federal level in terms of adult education funding.  Although there is currently an effort to increase funding, it is also possible that funding will be significantly reduced. Art will discuss key points of the legislative process/schedule to keep in mind while planning advocacy efforts. 

Hal Beder and Barry Semple (of NJALL) will review what these potential changes mean for adult education in New Jersey and the urgent need for coordinated advocacy across the state. 

There will be built-in time to share ideas and ask questions. 

Building Quality Programs Together
​The NJALL Annual Conference will take place at Brookdale Community College on May 11, 2018,  9:00 AM - 3:45 PM.  Ira Yankwitt from the Literacy Assistance Center in New York is our Keynote Speaker.  There will be  twenty-seven workshops, and time for networking with other adult educators and browsing vendor displays.  The registration fee covers lunch and coffee.

Workshop topics include: Building Coalitions for Adult Education, Making Inferences for Reading Comprehension, Increasing Learner Motivation, Numeracy, Designing workplace Literacy Programs and many more.

In addition, selected winners from NJALL's Adult Learner Writing Contest will read from their work and discuss how to support students as writers.

We cannot accept any on-site registrations or payments.  If your organization is paying by purchase order, please send a copy of the purchase order along with the names of those attending to njallmail@gmail.com.  Purchase orders must be received by May 1, 2018 to guarantee registration.

Any cancellations must take place by Mary 1. 2018 to ensure a refund.

Please send any questions to njallmail@gmail.com

Scholarships are available for outstanding students who have earned a high school diploma through an adult education program in New Jersey. 

​Adult educators: Will one of your students/graduates win a 2018 NJALL scholarship?  They may not apply unless YOU encourage them to do so.  Students can get the application by clicking on the button below.  The application is available on March 1, 2018 and must be submitted by April 30, 2018.

You can also help students by donating to our Scholarship Fund,  NJALL has been providing scholarships to selected students since 1992.  Each scholarship provides up to $750 per semester for full-time enrollment (pro-rated for part-time) in a higher education program, up to a maximum of $6000 per student.
You can donate on line via our PayPal account, or you can follow this link to get a form with information about sending in a check.