Volunteer Spotlight: Ellen Piilonen

Ellen Piilonen brought more than her A-game to being a volunteer tutor -- she rewrote the playbook.  In fact, she wrote a book.  Actually two! 

Since joining Literacy NRV’s team of volunteer tutors 3 years ago, Ellen has gone above and beyond in creating her own curriculum to use with her students from Afghanistan and Syria who never had the opportunity to learn to read in their home languages. 

“I looked and looked for materials that were appropriate for my students but couldn’t find anything -- either the subject matter was not relevant or culturally appropriate or had vocabulary that wasn’t meaningful to their lives,” said Ellen, who joined Literacy NRV as a tutor in 2022 after volunteering with Blacksburg Refugee Partnership since 2017.

“So I started writing my own picture book for adult learners, with subject matter of interest. I illustrated it with colorful, realistic images and it featured people, vocabulary, and cultural elements our students could relate to and a story line that would interest them.” 

Ellen wrote and illustrated two books to teach English literacy to emerging readers from Afghanistan and Syria. 

One new chapter was introduced each week, she explained. The book is a “rom-com” (romantic comedy) featuring the male main character Azoom, a Muslim man who drives a truck, and the female main character Asal, a Muslim woman who works in dining services at Virginia Tech. The book’s setting is an English class in Blacksburg, Virginia.  A romance brews between Azoom and Asal, who are both students in the same English class, and the characters’ conversation features everyday vocabulary and conversation experienced by her students. 

Some of the characters in the book have names that follow the consonant-vowel-consonant pattern, which is the first phonics pattern taught to new readers, explained Ellen, who has a Masters degree in early childhood education and is a retired counselor with New River Valley Community Services.

Book two, which purposely includes fewer illustrations so students will do more reading without the support of the images, wrapped up with an exciting plot climax when, as part of an English class practicing asking questions, Azoom asked Asal, “Will you marry me?” (Asal said “yes”!)

Production of the book is a partnership with her husband Leo Piilonen. Ellen writes the chapters and does the illustrations and he does the photoshop editing and production.  The couple prints the pages and adds them to binders for each student. 

“I think our students have made incredible progress.They understand so much and really can communicate. They can read using a combination of sight words and phonics.” said Ellen, who recalls a time when a student used a new phrase for the first time. “I can’t tell you how that felt. I wanted to jump for joy.”

Ellen said one of the most rewarding parts about being a tutor is the effort the students make to attend classes. “They plan their work schedules around coming to English classes, which means they have to work a whole lot later on those days. That shows me that they really value the class.”

Ellen has tried to make the book plot exciting and add elements that make the students laugh.  “It makes me happy that they get the humor in the book, they get the jokes. I want the class to be enjoyable because it’s really hard work to learn a whole new language, especially having never learned to read and write.”

Ellen strives to make learning fun.  Here she is teaching about the solar eclipse.

Ellen states that she is so grateful to have had the opportunity to tutor with Literacy NRV. “For me this has been a really great retirement. My husband kids me that I should go back to work so I can work less,” she jokes, saying she can’t begin to estimate how many hours have gone into teaching, book production and lesson planning.  “But this is very gratifying. It gives me a sense of purpose.”