SUMMER READING FOR STUDENTS TAKES ON DEEPER MEANING

Students and families from Northern Lights School Division are taking a trip to Saskatoon this weekend to select and purchase books for use in their upcoming summer literacy camps.

"This is the third year that the Government of Saskatchewan has provided support for summer literacy camps across the province to promote a love of reading, language and story-telling," Education Minister Donna Harpauer said. "We are providing approximately $500,000 for six school divisions to run literacy camps, primarily in northern and remote communities."

The students responsible for choosing the books will keep copies of what they have selected and will present the upcoming book selections for their summer camps to their classmates when they return home.

"In remote communities, reading opportunities are limited and we know how important it is for student success if we include take-home reading material in our summer camps program," Northern Lights School Division Superintendent of Education Mark Williment said. "We have heard from parents in our communities that there are benefits to family literacy when students can bring home books to read together with their siblings and other family members."

In 2011, 729 children ages four - 16 in six school divisions took part in the summer camps, reading 7,800 books, either in groups or individually. This represents a 272 per cent increase over the 2010 total of 2,862 books.

In 2012-13, the Ministry of Education will provide more than $2.4 million in support for adult, family and community literacy programming in Saskatchewan, including $500,000 for the summer literacy camp program. Total literacy grant funding was increased by 16 per cent in the 2012-13 Budget.

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For more information, contact:

Leya Moore
Education
Regina
Phone: 306-787-1069
Email: leya.moore@gov.sk.ca