Chef Curtis Aikens serves advice and inspiration at COABE

YOU PROBABLY KNOW HIM as one of the celebrity chefs on The Food Network (Pick of the Day, From My Garden, Meals Without Meat, and Food IN A Flash), the one who can’t get enough of fresh produce and has found all manner of ways to make tasty meals from it. You may also have seen him featured in TV411’s “Cooking with Math,” as he prepares a meal for friends and explains ratio, proportions, and adjusting quantities. (See a video clip of that segment on TV11.org.)

But there is more to this television personality than healthy food. Curtis Aikens is also an author, entrepreneur, businessman, father—and adult learner.

Caught in the turmoil of school desegregation as an elementary school student in Georgia, Aikens managed to graduate from high school, enroll in college, and even run a successful business without being able to read. At 26, that all changed when he saw a public service announcement about a local literacy program.

Learning to read in his mid-20s was a life-changing experience that created strong beliefs in Aikens about adult learning and the teachers who guide the process.

“Teachers need to know that new learners are like babies,” Aikens says. “The more knowledge you feed us, the hungrier we get. We want to learn more and more. You are our lifeline, and we are so thankful for you although sometimes we can’t tell you right then. Adult educators don’t change lives; they save them.”

To adult learners, Aikens has a similarly strong message.

“Adult learners need to know most of all that they are not alone. Don’t be ashamed; don’t be embarrassed. Nearly one in four people can’t read. That means illiteracy is in everybody’s family. It touches everyone.”

For Aikens, literacy means freedom, strength, and pride.

“Learning to read made the big world smaller,” he says. “It made me a part of this big ole world. I am doing things I never dreamed of doing. Before, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in, like I was the odd person out. Now I’m in.”

You can hear Aikens’ story and more about his views on literacy at the 2009 COABE conference in Louisville, Kentucky, April 18-22.

Aikens will be joined by literacy experts from across the country, including sessions by David Harvey, president of ProLiteracy; Cheryl Keenan, director of the Office of Adult Education with the U.S. Department of Education; and Sara Gutting with Adult Education Works. There will also be representatives from the National Institute for Literacy, the National College Transition Network, AALPD, the Adult Numeracy Network, the Center for Applied Linguistics, the GED Testing Service, the Adult Literacy and Technology Network, and many, many more.

Fun won’t be in short supply either. Comedian Carl Hurley will be the keynote speaker for the opening session. A former professor at Eastern Kentucky University and nationally-recognized comedian and lecturer, Hurley is often billed as “America’s funniest professor.” Hurley is also the author of We Weren’t Poor—We Just Didn’t Have Any Money.

Opening night occurs as Thunder Over Louisville lights up the skies with fireworks and an air show featuring more than 100 planes, aerobatics teams, sky diving teams, and stunts.

There will also be special events at the Kentucky Derby Museum and the Muhammad Ali Center. Both are premiere designations in themselves. For more information on these go to and www.derbymuseum.org and www.alicenter.org respectively.

COABE is an international organization designed to advance national and international adult education and literacy opportunities for all. COABE actively promotes adult education and literacy programs, provides leadership to advance the education of adults, advocates the development and dissemination of research about adult education and literacy through its journal ABEL, and conducts professional development conferences and activities.

The 2009 annual COABE conference is co-sponsored by the Kentucky Association for Adult and Continuing Education.