Over the past three years, the Indigo Grant of $50,000 has been a much-welcomed support to Parkdale School to support literacy. The 2020-2021 School Year is the third and final year of the Grant and it has provided teachers with opportunities to select books for their classroom libraries that blend with curricular outcomes to support their instruction. Students also had input during the past three years with their teachers to select books that are of their interest to have in the classroom, increasing their interest in reading. Parkdale classrooms now have access to mobile library carts with books that have been selected based on grade and age-appropriate interest. Before the introduction of the grant, classroom libraries did not have a wide selection of books linking to curriculums that students could access.
Parkdale School's Library has benefited significantly from the Indigo Grant over the past three years, filling its shelves with books that all student readers want to access i.e., high interest, non-fiction, and fiction. Alongside our school library, the grant enabled Parkdale School to select Indigenous books and resources to add to both classroom library carts and the school library. These books are used to support student’s understanding of Indigenous culture and history and were selected in consultation with WRPS' Indigenous Support Workers.
In the final months of the Grant, Parkdale School will hold a week-long Literacy Event May 10 - 14, 2021. Students will be engaging in two literacy-themed activities each day that are grade/age-appropriate. This event will be funded through the Grant and Parkdale School’s Literacy Committee will plan the events. Additionally, staff will also have one last opportunity to order books through the Grant for their classroom library carts and the school library.
Parkdale School staff and students are sad to see this amazing experience come to an end and acknowledge the wonderful opportunities it has provided to Parkdale School. Our school is no longer ‘bare’ with worn books that need to be constantly taped in order to read them. Parkdale School now has library book carts for each classroom and a school library that is filled with newly purchased books for students to access.
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