FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 18, 2013 Media Contact

Where Imagination Takes Root
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 18, 2013
Media Contact:
Sonya White, Richard Clewes
(519) 316-0059
[email protected]
[email protected]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------CANADIAN AUTHORS BRING THEIR IMAGINATION TO LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
IN THE CARIBBEAN. NOMINATIONS FOR NEXT YEAR’S BOOKS NOW OPEN.
TORONTO – In a noisy display of the power of books, over 2,500 costumed eight yearolds marched through the streets of Saint Lucia and Grenada waving flags to show
support for their author to win the RAINFOREST OF READING Award – a book festival
prize presented by a Canadian-based charity, OneWorld Schoolhouse Foundation.
“We’re motivating kids to read by getting them engaged in the stories. Reading to learn is
a lifelong skill that starts with imagination. Literacy enables thinking, problem-solving,
and creativity. We take it for granted but reading empowering people and communities”
said Sonya White, Co-Executive Director of the foundation. “As you can see, it also
happens to be a lot fun.”
In Castries, Saint Lucia, the main road was closed to vehicles so the students’ parade
could safely reach an outdoor arena where stands filled to capacity. Once assembled, the
Governor General, Dame Pearlette Louisy, greeted enthusiastic citizens and thanked
authors Richardo Keens-Douglas (“The Nutmeg Princess”); Kari-Lynn Winters (“Gift
Days”); and Christina Leist (“Jack the Bear”) who made presentations to students and
educators in Saint Lucia and Grenada.
The winners of the RAINFOREST OF READING® Award for 2013 were also announced:
• in Grenada: “Bee Yourself” by Kerry Sather Illustrated by David Mark
(Your Nickel’s Worth Publishing)
• in Saint Lucia: “Today, Maybe” by Dominique Demers illustrated by Gabrielle Grimard
and translated by Sheila Fischman (Orca Book Publishers)
“All the nominees are to be congratulated for doing good with words.” said Michael
Willius, Consul General of Saint Lucia in Canada. “By motivating young minds through
extensive reading to become habitual readers and knowledge seekers, the Rainforest of
Reading offers a place for the imagination to take root and new possibilities to bloom.”
By its own admission, the foundation has its work cut out. A survey of reading habits
conducted prior to the start of the festival revealed that over 40% of students’ parents do
not read to their children at home.
The nomination period for RAINFOREST OF READING Festival 2014, which has been
expanded to include Grades 3 & 4 in Grenada, Saint Lucia and Montserrat, opened
today.
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ABOUT RAINFOREST OF READING®
The RAINFOREST OF READING® Festival was created by OneWorld Schoolhouse
Foundation in co-operation with the Saint Lucia Ministry of Education, Human
Resource Development & Labour and the Grenada Ministry of Education & Human
Resource Development. The festival was inspired by the Ontario Library Association
(OLA) whose FOREST OF READING® program has been cultivating lifelong readers in
Ontario schools for over 2o years.
OneWorld Schoolhouse Foundation is a registered Canadian Charity (#825358484
RR0001) founded by Sonya White, a special education teacher and her husband, Richard
Clewes, a graphic designer/writer. The foundation also collects used textbooks and
storybooks from schools in Ontario for re-distribution in the Eastern Caribbean. As of
August 2013, over 13 tons (about 130,000 individual books) have been received by
schools in Saint Lucia and Grenada.
RAINFOREST OF READING® SUPPORTERS (Financial)
Blue Waters Products Ltd. (Trinidad); Courts; LIME (Cable & Wireless Grenada); M & C
Group of Companies Ltd.; RBC Financial (Caribbean); West Indies Shipping.
ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF EASTERN CARIBBEAN STATES (OECS)
OECS is an inter-governmental organization dedicated to economic harmonization and
integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good
governance. Its current members are: Antigua & Barbuda; Dominica; Grenada;
Montserrat; Saint Kitts & Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent & The Grenadines; Anguilla;
British Virgin Islands. At present, the total number of students enrolled in OECS schools
is 126,000 (est.).
ABOUT LITERACY IN THE CARIBBEAN
• “Statistical Tables” Table 1 Adult (aged 15+) literacy rate and gender parity by Region
1990-2015, Male/Female literacy in the Caribbean sub-region dropped from 72.5% in
2000 to 69.0% in 2011.
SOURCE: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, May 2013.
• “Statistical Tables” Table 3 Youth (aged 15-24) literacy rate and gender parity by
Region 1990-2015, Male/Female literacy in the Caribbean sub-region dropped from
86.7% in 2000 to 81.5% in 2011.
SOURCE: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, May 2013.
CONTACT INFO
OneWorld Schoolhouse Foundation
40 Woodland Court Caledon, ON L7K 0C2
Tel.: (519) 316-0059
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: oneworldschoolhouse.org