I was a ‘human book’ at Sun Valley School
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/03/2020 (2055 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
I had the most wonderful morning at Sun Valley School last month, being a ‘book’ in their Human Library.
As part of I Love to Read month, teacher-librarian Cathy Paul arranged fun reading activities for the students of this kindergarten to Grade 5 school.
Students had the opportunity to choose from a selection of 23 human ‘library books’ that included athletes, a musician, a lawyer, a fire fighter, an ecologist, artist, an MLA, a school trustee, historians and a railway mechanic. There were specialists in technology, food, prosthetics, pets and medical laboratories; an RCAF sergeant, and a community columnist from The Herald.
When a student came to the library to borrow their ‘book,’ they selected a real person (who was wearing a name tag stating their occupation). We then went to their classrooms where we told the stories of what we do as our work, passion or hobby. Students were given the opportunity to engage in conversation with their books, then books were returned to the library where they were able to take out a different human book. During the one hour allotted for this activity, most classrooms got through five or six human books.
“I see this as an opportunity for my students at Sun Valley School to open their minds to all of the possibilities that life has to offer them and to develop their capacity for empathy for others” Cathy Paul said.
As part of my own presentation, I made sure to involve students and staff in my upcoming article… to increase readership, of course.
I am sure they will all be looking to see which students’ photo I used, and whose name gets printed in the paper. One student excitedly shouted “we’re going to be famous!”
So here goes:
Grade 3 student Ruth Garcia said that “It’s so much fun to hear stories about other people because we get to learn new things.”
Hailey Webb (in the same class) told me that “everybody is different and we got to hear a lot of cool things that people do for their job.”
Grade 1 teacher Mme. Labelle told me that she “loves the Human Library. We are learning so much about people in our community.”
“The kids were super engaged and learned a lot!” said Grade 4 teacher Kyle Donnelly.
Grade 2/3 teacher Darlene Kopys-Larocque said “it was great. Both the students and I enjoyed it. Students asked questions and learned a lot about the different human books that we got to take out. We wanted to take out more!”
“When it was all over there was one complaint that I heard over and over… that it was too short,” Paul said.
She is hoping that next year they will be able to stretch the Human Library to three periods (instead of two) so that classrooms can hear from more “books.”
I would like to thank the students and staff at Sun Valley School for their help and thank Cathy Paul for the invitation to be a book.
I agree with Grade 2 teacher Kelly Waite, — this was “an excellent experience for all involved.”
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca
Wendy Hrynkiw
East Kildonan community correspondent
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Wendy Hrynkiw
East Kildonan community correspondent
Wendy Hrynkiw is a community correspondent for East Kildonan. Email her at wendyhrynkiw@shaw.ca
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
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