Gault Institute is getting ready to go on its biggest shopping spree for books, ever.
On June 10, Indigo Books & Music Inc. announced a generous donation of $35,000 to support literacy in the school.
In the Gault gymnasium, Rebecca Mersiadis and Meghane Phillips, the representatives from Indigo in Point-Claire, joined students for an assembly. Students cheered loudly when they presented a giant check for $35,000. Along with that, they also gave the school a few extra books to start the adventure.
All the employees at the different Indigo stores raise money for the Love of Reading Foundation’s literacy grants that are then distributed by Indigo’s home office to recipient schools. Gault has been officially paired with the Indigo bookstore in Pointe-Claire.
“So, a lot of the managerial staff in different locations, as well as some of the Love Reading ambassadors, which is what I am, will read through applications and based on different criteria and levels of need and everything, they determine how they’re going to distribute the money,” explained Phillips.
“And it’s really amazing to see, because when we are raising money for the foundation, we don’t necessarily know – at least in this instance for a grant – where exactly it’s going to go. But it’s really amazing: from being at the cash, being on the floor, to organizing bake sales or raffles, we do all types of efforts to raise money,” added Mersiadis.
The leadership students hosted the assembly at Gault, where they thanked Indigo for the donation. “Because of this generous funding, our school will be able to extend access to engaging books and literacy resources for students,” said student Sara-Maude Turcotte.
“These resources will benefit students across all grade levels and help create exciting opportunities for reading both inside and outside the classroom. Every student deserves access to great books, and this grant will make that possible for many years to come,” she continued.
“We are so excited to use this money to buy e-readers and brand-new high-interest books for all of our students, and to have authors visit. We are so excited to have all of these amazing events that are happening,” added Grade 5 student Louri-Anne Lauzon.
Teachers Anik Bernard and Jennifer Lemesurier completed the application. After applying for only $23,000, the applicants were shocked to find out they had received much more than they asked for. They decided to keep the news as a secret for a few weeks until it was the right time to reveal it.
“This will give access to more books because we have a lack of space. And while we do have classroom libraries, these are limited and it’s hard to replenish them,” said principal Anick Leclerc.
The school used to have a library in two places, but those rooms are now used for other things. “We did books on wheels for a while, but the books get lost and it was difficult, so then the teachers would sign out books. But we would really like to have a different concept. We thought that E-readers and licences for tablets would work,” she added.
“It’s not that we don’t want to or we don’t love books. It’s just we’re so limited in space with 335 students coming to the school next year.”
The students are very excited. “I really liked the announcement because it was a surprise even for us,” said Grade 5 Leadership student Anikah Kenzie Kovachev. “I think it is really important because literacy is a good skill to have and it can also be interesting because sometimes when you are reading you can get really into the book. There are a lot of books where you can really understand what the author is trying to say because of their description and it really helps the storyline,” she noted.
“We should read more books in the school. We have more interests than reading books that are for younger grades. I’d like to have manga books and anime books in the school so that way people don’t have to bring them from home and that way people don’t lose their books,” added Lauzon.
“The teachers in Grade 6 who applied for this grant are amazing, and I believe I will enjoy next year with new books to read, such as fantasy books, graphic novels, and realistic fiction books,” said Kovachev.
*This article was written by Grade 5 students at Gault Institute as part of a partnership between the New Frontiers School Board and The Gleaner, with support from the federal government.