Over the past few months I had the pleasure of working with the Literacy Council as this year's summer student. I helped design and create resources, test science experiments and art recipes, and paint the brand new bookmobile my own choice of bright blue.
As much fun as those things were, what had the most impact was getting out into the community. Part of my job included going to the Yellowknife Farmers Market each week, visiting summer camps, and attending literacy events, even as far away as Fort Providence.
It was my responsibility to plan activities that taught kids how to exercise their literacy skills. At first, I looked to past activities that were tried and true ideas from our own resources. I worried about whether the kids would enjoy what I planned for them. Actually doing the activities was the part that surprised me.
When I brought the activities to the kids, they did more than just enjoy them, and things went better than planned. The kids had so many more ideas, questions, and angles to look at what we were doing than I had thought of myself. Not only that, they were invested in finding the answers to those questions, or creating something new out of what I had brought, and in turn all of their camp mates or friends learned along as well.
That was the best thing I got to experience all summer — seeing firsthand that when I provided those kids with an idea, they ran with it. The presence of the bookmobile at each Farmers Market was enough to attract a crowd and get kids and adults alike thinking about reading, and literacy.
This showed me that providing that first step is so important in learning at every age. What the Literacy Council does is so important, and I am glad to have been a part of it.
-- Emily Thagard
