Remember your favorite book from childhood? It’s likely you still even have it, tucked away on a bookshelf with worn corners, taped up spine, and your first name in misshapen block letters printed in pencil inside the front cover.
That book connected you with reading in a way that no other book had before, or has since. It fueled your imagination, encouraged story telling, and introduced new words. That book allowed your young mind to wander away from the real world into the fictional paradise of wizards, hockey players, horses, castles, princesses, race cars, and more.
As an adult, maybe you’re a book-a-week, vacation novel warrior, chapter at bedtime, or only-on-essential-occasions type of reader. Regardless, your favorite book as a kid meant something to you and still does.
The grade 3 students across Sturgeon County received what may become their treasured tale just in time for the sunny days of summer reading. Nearly 500 students in ten schools had a book chosen just for them delivered in a handoff to school staff at the front doors as visitor restrictions are still in place.
The Books for Kids Program is through NWR Sturgeon Refinery’s sponsorship of The Educational Partnership Foundation, an organization whose 30 year history in Alberta created thousands of lifelong readers and helps build the fundamentals of literacy in our province’s youth.
While we so often *teach* our children and *thank* our ancestors, it’s also important to flip those around. The wise inscription on a gazebo at the Alexander First Nation School (seen near the end of the video collage) highlights why this gift of reading is actually a small token of gratitude for these grade 3 future leaders.
*photos of students used with permission and/or supplied by schools
