Celebrating I Love to Read Month in Tyndall Park
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This article was published 06/04/2022 (420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
One of the things that make the month of February so special to me is the opportunity to celebrate I Love to Read Month together with our students and teachers.
Tyndall Park is home to seven amazing elementary schools: Prairie Rose, Shaughnessy Park, École Stanley Knowles, Meadows West, Garden Grove, École Waterford Springs, and Tyndall Park School.
What I appreciate the most about I Love to Read month is connecting with our schools, sharing ideas, and learning together. This year, the theme was about reading around the world, so the students taught me lots about many of our different languages and cultural values. On one of the days, it was the National Flag Day for Canada, so the students shared the history and importance of our own flag.
One thing I’ve noticed over the years is how particular books have remained consistently popular among the students. The Orange Shirt Story is the true story that inspired the Orange Shirt Day movement. It tells the story of a child who was sent to a residential school for the first time. On her first day at school, she proudly wore a shiny orange shirt her Granny had bought for her, but when she arrived, she was told that she could not wear her favourite shirt. It was taken away from her and never returned. This is a heartbreaking but very important story to continue sharing.
Another book that is enjoyed by some of our younger students, year-in and year-out, is Curious George. George is a silly monkey who gets into some trouble during a parade and ultimately gets to meet the mayor. Finally, there is a book called Uniquely Wired, which is about how a child living with autism has many special skills, and that fair does not always mean equal. This book always creates such great conversations in classrooms about equality.
To see such enthusiasm for reading fills me with hope and pride as I believe it’s extremely important students in schools are learning about Canada’s true history. The reason I believe this is important is because through reading, learning, and understanding Canada’s history, we will grow to be a more inclusive and understanding society.
I want to again thank everyone involved in our school system for how much they have had to adapt over the past two years during the pandemic to ensure that students were able continue learning and to experience some consistency in their daily lives.
Thank you also to all the schools in Tyndall Park for allowing me the opportunity to share so many special moments with them. I look forward to June farewells at the end of the school year.
Cindy Lamoureux
Tyndall Park constituency report
Cindy Lamoureux is the Liberal MLA for Tyndall Park.