‘I am so excited’: Saskatoon elementary school receives $40K literacy grant

Saskatoon elementary school receives $40K literacy grant

A Saskatoon elementary school received a big boost in the name of reading.

St. Marguerite School has received a $40,000 grant from the Indigo Love of Reading Foundation (ILOR.) The Saskatoon elementary school is one of 50 schools across Canada sharing in over $1,800,000 this year, impacting almost 17,000 students.

A celebration was held at the Saskatoon school Wednesday morning to celebrate the funding, which will be used to increase library book budgets.

“As a teacher, it can be challenging to fully engage students when many of our books are older or when there are limited options for those reading at higher levels,” explained Taylor Hausler, a teacher at St. Marguerite said in a news release.

“I am so excited that we will be able to bring in new, high-interest texts that better meet the needs and interests of all learners. With school budgets being so tight, the possibility of also providing experiences like author visits or theatre connections to literacy is especially meaningful.”

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The funding is meant to go towards plans for updating and renewing school libraries to ensure students have access to books that reflect their identities, experiences and communities.

“We’ll figure out what the needs are for the school, what the resources are that we want our students to have, then go to work gathering material to share with students and people in the community,” explained Laura Cey, principal of St. Marguerite.

St. Louis Public School in St. Louis Saskatchewan will also receive $10,000 in funding.

ILOR has committed over $30 million to over 500 Canadian schools since it was founded in 2004.