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North Van elementary schools receive Indigenous titles

March 06, 2019

​North Shore News

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photo Mike Wakefield, North Shore News

Westview Elementary student Jordan Noble joins One to One executive director Carol Neuman, volunteer Kamy Zargarpour, TD bank representative Rick Chou and One to One school co-ordinator Leslie Tarves in diving into a selection of new books from Strong Nations Publishing, donated by the children’s literacy program One to One, as part of a project to include books with more Indigenous stories in local elementary schools.

One to One, a charity that helps children develop lifelong literacy skills through one-to-one volunteer tutoring, is launching a pilot project in four North Shore elementary schools – Lynnmour, Queen Mary, Ridgeway, and Westview – that will see 40 new story books from Strong Nations Publishing added to its book boxes.

The project, which is supported by TD, will introduce materials from the Nanaimo-based publisher to elementary students, and include some Indigenous titles such as Fish for Supper, Salmon to Share, and Black Raven. The books join more than 100 other books in the boxes that are rated at varying levels of literacy.

The program is free to all parents and schools and is available to any elementary school student whose teacher believes they need a reading-skills boost. Each student meets one to two times a week with a trained One to One volunteer tutor. For 30 minutes at a time, they read in an environment where it is okay to take risks, make mistakes, and learn at their own pace.

“Recognizing a gap that we have historically had in our materials, and inspired by several of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action, we would like to make engaging Indigenous material available to young readers in North Vancouver,” stated One to One executive director Carol Neuman in a press release.