Cree bilingual school receives $80K grant to boost reading
Staff at Saskatoon’s St. Frances Cree Bilingual School say a grant of $80,000 will help students on their literary journey.
Students found out the school had been selected as one of 30 across Canada to receive money from the Indigo Love of Reading Literacy Fund during an assembly on Thursday morning.
Principal Darren Fradette said the money will support student reading outcomes and the school’s libraries, and give students and parents access to more reading resources, including materials with a First Nations and Metis focus.
“We’ve done a good job up to this point trying to resource our libraries, classroom libraries and guided-reading collections with as much First Nations and Metis content as possible. This will certainly allow us to continue to build that collection,” he said.
“As a Cree bilingual school, it’s important to have First Nations and Metis content available to be reading each and every day.”
Fradette noted print materials needed to accommodate a growing student population are expensive.
“We’re absolutely ecstatic and thrilled to receive the grant, but we also are very honoured and feel like it certainly endorses the hard work that we’ve been engaging in, trying to build a culture of literacy.”
Desiree MacAulay, the school’s aboriginal student achievement co-ordinator, made the grant application for St. Frances. She said the money will have a ripple effect in Saskatoon.
“Each student that we can give a great education to has a chance to go out into the community and better society.”
Carla Katerynych, a teacher librarian at St. Frances, said money will be used for books of high interest to students, like graphic novels and cultural resources.
“It means getting the right book into the right hands for the students,” she said.