The One School, One Book program gives an entire school a book to read. St. Paul’s School has been part of the program for eight years, and winds up the month of reading with a family literacy night, which celebrates the end of the month with activities and crafts built around the book the school was reading. This year’s book was Shiloh, a book with a beagle as a main character, leading to a dog-themed evening for the families at St. Paul’s.
Quinn Haider, principal of St. Paul’s School, says that the program is part of the school’s overall focus on literacy, and students’ high literacy scores give them pride.
The Brown family is a big fan of One School, One Book. Mom Sheena and daughters Ayanna and Amara participated in the evening’s events and were big fans of the One School One Book program.
The family is new to the city, Sheena says, having just moved to the city for Jamaica, and they’re happy to have found a school which offers such a program.
“Reading is very much important to creativity, to future development, to imagination, even writing and expressing yourself.”
Reading the book as a family is also something Sheena and her daughters enjoyed, because they were able to bond over talking about the story.
“We found a lot of common with this book, I love dogs, we talked about the treatment of animals, and even Amara was the one to point out the spiritual side, the conflict the main protagonist was feeling while telling a lie, holding it back from his parents but wanting to keep the dog. That’s what a good book does, it holds you, it keeps you, and it shows you a little bit more about life and the human experience.”
They also like the idea of having everybody in the school reading the same book. Amara believes it’s a good way to get people in school talking about the same subject and discussing what they like and dislike about the book.
“Everybody is sharing a common text and getting different experiences out of it,” Sheena said.
Haider is also a fan of the sense of community that the program brings. The older students in the school helped run the activities and set them up.
“That’s one of my favorite parts, giving them leadership skills and letting their talents come to the forefront.”
Amara is a big fan of reading, and says that she wants to on adventures, and that influences her favorite books and the genres that she looks for, often going for mysteries and fantasies.
“It’s kind of like I’m on my own journey when I’m reading.”
The Browns hope that the program inspires people to read more. Sheena hopes people go to the Yorkton Public Library, start reading groups, and keep looking for new books to read with friends and with family.
