Andy Hartman Lifetime Literacy Leadership Award recipient I want to thank everyone associated with LVA - the adult learners, Board, volunteers, and staff - for this wonderful award. I especially want to thank Marsha Tait. When you receive recognition from someone you respect so highly, it means a great deal. Marsha is a leader. She has helped lead LVA into a new and brighter future. She is leading the National Coalition for Literacy. I imagine that whatever she gets involved with, she takes a leadership role. Marsha contacted me with the news of this award a few days after I had left the National Institute for Literacy (NIFL) and moved to Denver. I had left my wife and two children back in Washington, DC. I had left a job I really loved and left a lot of good friends. Of course, this was all in the shadow of the tragic events of September 11. I was feeling very isolated and disconnected from so many things that had meant so much to me for a long time. So, Marsha�s call about this award felt like a link to all that, and it meant a great deal to me. I thank you all for that! I also feel very humbled by this award. I don�t know if you can even talk about anything good that came from the events of September 11? But if anything approaches that, it is the recognition of the �regular people� - the cops, firemen, rescue workers - as the real heroes of this country�not sport stars and entertainers. So, while I am honored to receive this award, I know the real heroes of the literacy effort are: The young man who cleaned my office after I went home, but then got up early the next day and rode two buses in order to attend an ESL class. The single mother who drops off her children at her mother�s house after work so she can make it to her GED class. The tutor who is tired after a day�s work and would like nothing better than to go home and see his family, but instead meets his student at the local library. The local board member who puts the squeeze on his colleagues one more time so the program can continue. I accept this award in the spirit of having had the privilege to serve all of you! I would ask you to indulge me for just a few more minutes so that I can say a few things about the pending merger of LVA and LLA. You have probably all seen the ad currently running on TV in which all different kinds of people look directly into that camera and say, �I am an American.� It is an effective ad, and I share the feeling and its message. But it has also caused me to think a bit about what it means to be an American. Obviously, we mean more than the fact we all share a common government, a common geography. To me, it is all about our sharing a common set of ideals and values. One of those American values is that, if you work hard and play by the rules, then you should have the opportunity for a good, decent life. America-the land of opportunity. And today, what determines whether you have or don�t have opportunity is the knowledge and skills you possess. So, while I support our military and our efforts to extract justice overseas, I also believe we can strengthen America and maker it harder to defeat us if more people believe they have true opportunity. What better way to do this than to ensure that every American who seeks to improve their fundamental literacy skills has ready access to high quality services?! This is the goal that was identified by the National Literacy Summit, and we have a long way to go to achieve it. One of the key ingredients missing from our effort to achieve this goal is a truly national, private literacy organization that can provide leadership, coordination, and support to all literacy providers in the country. I know there is a lot of discussion about the mission and name of the �new literacy organization.� I would urge you to build into your plans now the vision of playing this expanded role in the future! If we are thinking outside our institutional boxes and thinking about the adult learner, then someone needs to fill this void. I would ask, �why not you?� Good luck in the exciting new journey ahead and thank you from my heart for this award! For general information call Peggy May at 843/671-2008 or E-mail to [email protected] For exhibit information call Kathy Freeman at 803/794-5370 or E-mail to [email protected] For sponsorship information call Anu R. Ailawadhi at 914/838-4624 or E-mail to [email protected]