2026 Volunteers of the year

Every day, our volunteers go above and beyond. We understand and recognize the time and dedication of each and every one of our volunteer tutors. Every year, we recognize a few volunteers who truly are exemplary in supporting the Literacy Volunteers' mission. Meet our 2026 Volunteers of the Year!

Ronna Gray 

Written by Program Manager Steven Reid

Ronna has been an LVCA tutor since 2012, and during that time, she has worked one-to-one with eleven students at nearly every level—from basic beginners to advanced learners. But her contribution to LVCA goes well beyond individual tutoring. She leads our Wednesday morning Low-Level Conversation Group and has taught a basic beginner class at Hearthwood.

Ronna is also someone we can count on to represent LVCA throughout the community. You will frequently find her staffing our information table at community events, talking with people about our work and helping us connect with potential students and volunteers. She has also been a longtime volunteer with WordPlay.

And Ronna doesn’t just work with our students—she helps prepare the next generation of LVCA tutors. She frequently volunteers to serve on the tutor panel during the Roundtable portion of our New Tutor Trainings, sharing what she has learned from her years of experience and answering questions from new volunteers.

For more than a decade, Ronna has consistently stepped up wherever she is needed—working with students, supporting new tutors, and representing LVCA in the community. We are very fortunate to have her as part of LVCA, and I am delighted to recognize Ronna Gray as one of our 2026 Volunteers of the Year.

Sue Klett

Written by Citizenship Coordinator Catherine McCall

Sue braved one of our first online new tutor trainings during COVID back in November 2020. Her first student was a citizenship student, and Sue nearly dragged her over the finish line to help her successfully pass her citizenship interview. As a former teacher who focused on reading development, she next jumped into tutoring a basic education student. In their two years together, she went above and beyond the call to make sure her student was able to use his developing language skills to access community resources and work toward his goals outside of the tutoring room. Sue was also juggling other commitments, including a part-time job and various volunteer roles closer to her home, so she tried to step back for a bit. But...

As you perhaps could have predicted, I was not going to let a former high school teacher out of my life after she had originally started out as a wonderful and incredibly dedicated citizenship tutor. So a little over a year ago, I reached out to Sue to ask if she would consider joining our team of citizenship class teachers. And she dove right in with both feet! She has been teaching our in person civics class since April of 2025, which means that she was originally teaching the 100 questions on the old test. This past winter, she joined the team that provided feedback on sections of our new Civics handbook, and the zoom teaching team which piloted our new curriculum with our winter classes. Then when we got our spring classes up and running, it turned out that we needed to offer an in-person section of the old civics test, which she taught for us, and she offered an extra review session for zoom students who were preparing for the old test. This fall she’s switching back over again to help us with the new civics class. On the last day of every class session, she bakes for her students, and makes sure they feel celebrated. Just as she is for our students, Sue is a constant cheerleader for me, and she helps keep me motivated and pushing forward in the face of the obstacles that are continually popping up in our citizenship program. 

I also want to point out that Sue lives way out in Nelson County, so in addition to all of the time she’s invested in prep and instruction, Sue has spent well over 200 hours in her car for us in the past 5 years, and I think that may be the clearest indicator of just how dedicated to our mission she is!

Over the years, Sue has been involved in LVCA in a myriad of other ways. She’s served on a new tutor training panel, attended tons our tutor workshops. She’s brought her student (and anyone else who needs a ride) to student/tutor fieldtrips. She’s been a regular Wordplay volunteer for the past several years and she’s helped with volunteer recruitment, both at this summer’s Monticello Oath Ceremony and she also recruited her wonderful husband to join us a couple of years ago! This past year, she volunteered to become the social committee chair for our citizenship class teacher team and we expect her to continue that role for years to come 

I am thrilled to recognize Sue Klett as one of our 2026 Volunteers of the Year.