Antigonish Resident Receives National Literacy Award
Andrew Chacko of Antigonish is Nova Scotia’s 2022 Council of the Federation Literacy Award recipient.
In honour of International Literacy Day, celebrated on Sept. 8, the Council of the Federation is recognizing Andrew Chacko of Antigonish as its Nova Scotia recipient of the Literacy Award for his leadership, resilience and dedication to literacy and American Sign Language (ASL).
Born without hearing, Andrew grew up in India and came to Canada in 2008. While Andrew knew Indian Sign Language and could read and write short English phrases, he had trouble settling into Canadian life and connecting with others because of communication challenges.
“When I was born, I had no hearing, and I grew up in a family where I was the only deaf person. I went to school in India to learn Indian Sign Language and business skills. It was very difficult for me to get a job in India, so I left my family in India and moved to Canada.”
In 2015, Andrew moved to Nova Scotia and settled in Antigonish. He joined the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association (ACALA) to improve his reading and writing skills to better connect with others and boost his employment opportunities.
Despite many challenges, Andrew was motivated to learn ASL and quickly reached an intermediate level. Together, with other students and instructors like Andrew Stalker, they created ASL tutorials where community members can meet biweekly to learn and practice ASL communication.
“When I met Andrew, it was fortuitous that I had some limited, but functional ASL knowledge from previous work supporting individuals with developmental disabilities. With Andrew’s arrival, we had the foundation for what became our ASL tutorials at ACALA, an ever-growing group of individuals who meet biweekly to learn and practice ASL communication and Andrew Chacko has always been at the centre of this initiative,” said Stalker, Essential Skills, Employment and Community Engagement Instructor at ACALA.
In addition to helping run ASL tutorials, Andrew has taken on different jobs around the community, cleaning, gardening and doing outdoor work for the Town of Antigonish and other community organizations. He also gives his time to a lunch program at a local church and to the Canadian Association for Community Living. He hopes to become employed full time as a cleaner or groundskeeper.
No matter how busy Andrew gets, he will always leave time to teach ASL.
“I continue to volunteer at ACALA with ASL classes. The more people who know sign language, the more people like me, who need sign language to communicate, can make friends and have better opportunities.”
The Council of the Federation Literacy Award is presented annually to adult learners who demonstrate outstanding achievements in literacy and make a significant contribution to their school, workplace, or community. Andrew was nominated by the Antigonish County Adult Learning Association.
“Andrew faced many challenges in adapting to project requirements and group work, but he was never deterred. Andrew has become a very important part of our organization and his time at ACALA has made us all stronger in being able to reach out to others and adapt and find ways of getting everyone involved,” said Stalker.
Nova Scotia School for Adult Learning (NSSAL) offers a variety of free educational programs for adults 18+ across the province.
The Antigonish County Adult Learning Association (ACALA) is a community, not-for-profit organization providing adult and family learning opportunities in the Antigonish area since 1994. ACALA is funded by the Department of Labour, Skills and Immigration to deliver adult learning programs through NSSAL.
