P.E.I. school receives $90K for books
School will use money to enrich classroom libraries, says principal
Students at Westwood Primary School in Cornwall, P.E.I., have a lot to read.
The school recently received the Indigo Love of Reading Grant and is being given $90,000 to buy books.
The Indigo Love of Reading Foundation gives the grant to Canadian elementary schools to purchase the books and educational resources they need.
The school was looking for a way to enrich its classroom libraries "to build a love of reading" in students, said Sherry Flynn, Westwood principal.
We were really wanting to focus on having really good literature for the children to read with a variety of different genres.— Sherry Flynn
"We submitted the grant, we sent along an application and created a video application as well."
Not long after submitting, the school received a call from the local Indigo store in Charlottetown and was told it would be receiving the grant, Flynn said.
"We were thrilled."
The money will cover the school's program to support classroom libraries over three years, Flynn said.
"We have about 30 classrooms at Westwood Primary School. Most of the books in the classroom are purchased a little bit through our school budget."
Teachers sometimes supply classroom
However, a lot of books in classroom libraries are bought by teachers themselves, Flynn said.
"We were really wanting to focus on having really good literature for the children to read with a variety of different genres."
The program will also involve the school library as well, Flynn said.
"We will be looking at the school library to help organize some materials as well as redistribute them into the classrooms."
French literature
Flynn said the funding will also help the school purchase French literature for their French immersion program.
"It's very difficult to find really good rich French immersion literature on P.E.I. So we are excited about filling those classrooms as well."
Flynn said books will start to be ordered in September. At the announcement students were all allowed to pick out a book they want for free.
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With files from Angela Walker