Dominican Literacy Center names new director
Claire Wiesner-Smillie has been appointed director of the Dominican Literacy Center in Aurora, effective July 1.
Sister Kathleen M. Ryan, center founder and director, made the announcement. She is retiring June 30.
She said, “Claire has been an evening tutor at the center for more than four years. She is strongly dedicated to our mission, and our staff has full confidence that she will do an excellent job as director. With the support of the staff, tutors and advisory board members, I’m sure that she will do very well as our new director.”
Sister Kathleen said the center’s corporation board at the center's sponsor, Dominican Sisters of Springfield, recently affirmed Wiesner-Smillie as the new director. An Aurora resident, she is director of roastery operations at Endiro Coffee, LLC, in Aurora.
Wiesner-Smillie earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy and theology from Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, California. She is studying for a master’s degree in nonprofit administration through Northern Illinois University. Sister Kathleen will be her mentor throughout her studies.
In an email to center advisory board members she said, “Thank you all! I am honored to have been given this opportunity, and I look forward to meeting and working with all of you!”
Sister Kathleen is retiring after 30 years in the director’s office. Her goal as center founder and director was to provide opportunities for women to receive individual tutoring in reading, writing and speaking English.
For its first year, the center resided in the basement of St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Aurora. In September 1994, the Dominican Literacy Center moved to its present location on the site of St. Therese Catholic Parish in Aurora.
Initially, the center served eight students with five volunteer women tutors. Currently, 200 students receive individual tutoring by 200 trained volunteers who meet weekly at the center on Aurora's far east side. The staff has grown from one to seven persons and more than 3,000 women have been tutored.
Ryan said, “The Dominican Literacy Center believes in empowerment through education and the dignity of each individual person.”
She added that volunteers lead citizenship classes for both women and men.
Ryan plans to take a sabbatical starting July 1 for a retreat in Tucson, Arizona, to finish her study of Spanish. “By the end of my sabbatical, I hope to be fluent in Spanish. Then I am open and willing to explore other possibilities for work and ministry,” she said.
During her tenure as DLC director, Sister Kathleen developed an adult literacy curriculum, initiated and coordinated an advisory council, helped develop and implement an ESL curriculum for adult citizenship classes and wrote grant applications.
Additionally, she is a founding member of the Greater Aurora Literacy Coalition and member of the area planning council for adult education of Waubonsee Community College in Sugar Grove.
Her career in Catholic education included teaching positions in Springfield, Aurora, Evergreen Park and Crystal Lake. She also served as principal in Algonquin and Evergreen Park.
Under her leadership, the DLC recently received the Library of Congress Award in Washington, D.C. Carla Hayden, Head Librarian at the Library of Congress said, “This award recognizes Dominican Literacy Center’s successful practice of building one-on-one relationships and grass-roots organizing that keeps humanity at the heart of literacy experiences.”
For more information, call (630) 898-4636 or visit dominicanliteracycenter.org.