Literacy Day promotes a life-long love of reading
On January 27, the students of Ecole Fox Run were visited by three leaders of the Sylvan Lake Community to help the school celebrate Family Literacy Day.
Flipside Youth Services Co-ordinator, Deshon Lennard, along with Sylvan Lake RCMP member Const. Michael Lee and Mayor of Sylvan Lake, Sean McIntyre went class to class reading from some of their favourite books in order to help spark a life-long love of reading.
Fox Run Vice-Principal Tracey Lynn was excited to have three committed individuals on board to help promote reading at the school.
“We have leaders in our community come in and talk about why they love reading,” she said. “If you love literacy - life is easier. It is an outlet even outside academics. It’s a whole new world that opens up.”
Mayor McIntyre was happy to read some passages from one of his favourite books.
“I am reading Chris Hatfield’s An Astronauts Guide to Life on Earth,” he said. “It’s great to be able to share a passion for reading with these students. I am really a huge fan of Chris Hatfield- a Canadian astronaut who spent time on the International Space Station and turned our attention back into space by documenting his journey on Twitter, Tumblr and Youtube. It’s a great way to inspire people by getting us interested in things beyond ourselves.”
Const. Lee was also excited to share his newly rediscovered love of reading. Lee read passages from Charlotte’s Web as well as The Three Little Wolves and the Big Bad Pig.
“I haven’t been an avid reader until recently,” he said. “It’s important because it broadens your mind and relieves stress. You can go on your own adventure.”
Students would listen to the speakers and then ask them questions on why they love literacy.
Mayor McIntyre was happy to oblige the students by sharing one his passions.
“I think it helps unlock a world, especially for young people,” he said. “It’s a great privilege to share that passion.”
#ReadFor15 campaign a success
The second annual #ReadFor15 campaign kicked off across Canada on Friday in support of Family Literacy Day.
Across the country communities gathered to see who could have the highest percentage of their population report they had been reading using social media or by contacting their local library.
The Sylvan Lake Municipal Library saw noteworthy success with 24 per cent of the population of the Town of Sylvan Lake having reported their reading. This number is up from last year’s local reporting which showed 16 per cent of the population.
The winner of this year’s #ReadFor15 campaign, for the second year running, was the community of Donalda, Alberta. The town saw over 60 per cent of their population participate in the challenge.
On a regional scale, the City of Red Deer saw 15.54 per cent of their population reading which landed them with the distinction of having the highest number of reports over 15,000.
Executive Director of the Sylvan Lake Municipal Library and co-founder of the #ReadFor15 campaign, Caroline Vandriel, stated she was thrilled with how well the challenge went and thanked the community for having participated.
“Over all 69,449 people read [across Canada] and reported in this year’s challenge and Chris Hadfield liked Mayor McIntyre’s tweet about reading his book to FoxRun students,” said Vandriel. “[Premier] Rachel Notley tweeted about the challenge on the 26th [of January] so we are continuing to get good recognition for all of our efforts.”
TAKE 15 - Executive Director of the Sylvan Lake Municipal Library, Caroline Vandriel, caught up on her weekly news Friday afternoon. The Library was participating in the national Family Literacy Day #ReadFor15 challenge. Jenna Swan/Sylvan Lake News