First Literacy recently announced their 2026-2027 grant recipients. Eight organizations were awarded grants to carry out innovative initiatives that will impact adult
learners across Massachusetts. Over $34,000 in grant funds were distributed to nonprofits with new and innovative Adult Basic Education projects.
“This year we awarded four second-year grants, which really speaks to the impact that these projects have on their students and organizations as a whole,” said Annie Sferrazza, First Literacy Program Director. “We are excited to see how these programs grow and evolve over the next year to better meet the needs of adult learners.”

Blue Hills Adult Education was one of this year’s recipients and was awarded a second-year grant for $3,371.16 to expand its successful pilot of their summer digital literacy program. With
funds from First Literacy, the 4-week summer intensive program will include instruction that is differentiated by ESOL levels, and more staff support around digital literacy teaching to help
students with limited digital literacy skills better access digital resources and increase their ability to master English. “With the second year of funding we can build upon our original digital literacy grant from last year,” said Chris Rosenberg, Project Leader of the program. “We learned which digital literacy skills are most critical from our pilot program, and we will use that information to
refine our summer boot camp class and create a two-day teacher training with ongoing support throughout the year. In this way we hope to create systemic change so that
students will always be given the digital literacy tools they need to help them better learn English.”

In celebration of Volunteer Appreciation Week, we proudly recognize the dedicated individuals who support our program and make a lasting difference in the lives of our students.

Volunteering with our program is a meaningful way to give back. Whether by tutoring, mentoring, or offering encouragement, our volunteers help adult learners build essential skills, confidence, and new opportunities for the future.

We are always looking to grow our volunteer community. If you are interested in making a real impact, we invite you to join us and be part of this important work.

This November students at Blue Hills Adult Ed in Dedham collected food to be donated to the Dedham Food Pantry.  This annual event is a wonderful way for our students to help those in need.  Each year the students shop for non-perishable food items during the month of November, and then we bring everything to the food pantry right before the holidays.  With the recent government shutdown many families are struggling with food scarcity, and this is our way to support them.