Photo courtesy of the St. Patrick’s Community School Facebook page.
St. Patrick’s Community School has been selected to participate in the Indigo Love of Reading “Adopt a School” fundraiser.
The fundraiser kicked off with Canadian authour Eric Walters who shared his story about inspiring students to read and write, with his book titled "Stand Your Ground."
Over the weekend, the fundraiser continued with a coffee and lemonade stand outside of the Indigo Red Deer store, student guest readers, and a book signing by Brettney Thompson, author of “I Knew You Would Be Trouble.”
“We were able to raise almost $1,000 with in-store donations,” said Mandy Reed, St. Patrick’s Community School Principal. “It was a great opportunity for us to create awareness and to promote to the public what St. Patrick's is about, which is literacy and making sure that our students have equal opportunities.”
Photo courtesy of Many Reed.
The funds raised will be used to fill the school shelves with new and diverse books.
“Literacy is a lifeline for opportunities moving forward. A lot of our students in our community are newcomers to Canada, and having literacy in English can open so many doors for career options,” Reed said. “We want to make sure that our students have every equal opportunity to showcase to the world who they are, and that's a gateway through literacy.”
Through the fundraiser, Reed is hopeful to purchase 50 new books for every classroom, to ensure every student has a book in their hand.
“Once we have the amount that we've raised, we will divide it up so each class will get a certain number of dollars and they will choose the books they would like to have in their classroom,” Reed said. “It's entirely student voiced.”
This is the second time St. Patrick’s Community School has been selected to participate in the fundraiser.
To be chosen, the school had to demonstrate a need for up-to-date and current libraries and showcase a want to diversify the collection.
“It's really important that our students can feel seen and represented in the books that they read, and that's why we're focusing on inclusion and diversity with the books that we'll be choosing,” Reed said.
Throughout the fundraiser, there will also be a table set up in the school with book recommendations from St. Patrick’s Community School staff and students.
“The whole school is buzzing and electric, students are making bookmarks to give away for people who donated, and they're really excited for this opportunity to have new books coming into their classrooms,” Reed said.
Funds will be collected online and in-store until Oct. 3.