One of my ongoing goals is to increase my cooking skills and eventually become a great cook. Learning how to cook is a great way to improve and maintain your health, save money, and try new dishes to challenge your taste buds and expand your palate. In college, I figured that I had to learn […]
Do you know where the highest concentration of Salvadoran immigrants live in Indianapolis? If you guessed the Crooked Creek neighborhood near Michigan Road, you’re correct! I learned the answer last week at a free Lunch and Learn presentation on the country of El Salvador at the Michigan Road Library branch. The event series is a […]
When I heard the stomping, clapping, yelling, whistle-blowing, rattle-shaking crowd of hundreds, I felt as if I were going to regurgitate my heart as it attempted to thump its way up my throat with the determined futility of a toad trying to jump out of a well. My bowels were like ice and my salivary […]
Writing the first draft of a novel is like playing with finger paints: messy, colorful and fun. Painting with our instinct, creating images of whatever we fancy without worrying what the grown-ups will say, allows us to find our voice, get to know our characters, and allow the story to unfold. While the Inner Critic […]
In my mid twenties, I attended graduate school overseas. The hardest part about being an international student was not being home for the holidays. As summer turned to autumn, I started thinking about all that I’d be missing: the rowdy family parties, the hours of reading by the fireplace at my parents’ house, and the […]
Yesterday, I shared my experience attending the Día de Los Muertos event at the Eiteljorg. Today I’m sharing our conversation with Indy Reads student, Fortino Martinez, who told us about how he celebrates the holiday. Fortino is from the city of Ciudad Valles in the state of San Luis Potosí, Mexico. The city is in […]
Many of us may be familiar with the sugar skulls and flower-crowned skeletons that pop up in stores around Halloween for Día de Los Muertos, but know little about the holiday itself. Last weekend, I attended the Día de Los Muertos event presented by Nopal Cultural at the Eiteljorg Museum. At the event I learned […]
Have you ever imagined what life would be like if you couldn’t read? Everyday tasks can become seemingly impossible hurdles to overcome. Imagine trying to fill out a job application or form at a doctor’s office while struggling to read the questions on the page. What would you do? Reading difficulties can impact a wide […]
As I sat in my lit professor’s tiny office, bookshelves crammed with leather-bound, dusty books, her desk piled with essays to be marked with red ink, I waited with bated breath as she paused to respond to my brilliant idea for an independent study. I planned to write a novel. We sat looking at each […]
This article is in a series we call Indy Reads Writes, where Indy Reads’ staff and volunteers share firsthand experiences related to literacy, literacy education, and the joy of reading. The chill of fall and the promise of winter snow are in the air. Some of Indy Reads’ ELL students are not used to this […]
We’re not shy about it: We think literacy is the most important single tool in helping to lift people and families out of poverty. On its own, literacy can empower someone to take a big step forward in pursuing more gainful employment, to have a more stable home life, and to keep those positive changes […]
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