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Rappahannock Ncwa 8U4T Writer
The 1980 census figures showed that 63 percent of Rappahannock’s adult population 25 and older — 2,066 people — had not graduated from high school, and 40 percent — or 1,533 people — completed eighth grade or less.
Data from the 1990 census won’t be available until some time next year, but it is sure to show a continuing, if less severe, problem.
Faced with statistics like these, a group of Rappahannock residents started a program to teach non-readers to read. They also prepared to help those who can read farther their education to the point where they could prepare to take the General Education Development test (GED) that is accepted in place of a high school diploma.
This fall they officially became the Literacy Volunteers of America — Rappahannock County, but as President Lee Bird said, “We have 30 members, we have 16 people who have been trained as tutors, but we have a shortage of people who have stepped forward to learn.”
Last Wednesday Linda Dukes, chairman of the state’s Region 6 Literacy Coordinating Committee, which covers an area from Fauquier through Nelson counties, brought some members of her committee to Rappahannock to conduct a Community Analysis Forum aimed at strengthening the local literacy effort.
County Administrator John McCarthy persuaded representatives of local agencies to join the forum with LVA volunteers, and for five hours the group worked on analyzing what gaps there are in services available in the county and what actions can be taken in the next six months to fill those gap*The
chief problem they identified was
87.1%