Local students will have their minds opened up to a world of possibilities.
From April 23 to 27, authors, illustrators, and storytellers will be shedding some light and insight on their craft, during the 2018 Cenovus Wordpower tour.
Using in-classroom sessions, presenters will share their skills with students from Kindergarten to Grade 12.
“It gives the students at our school a real-life experience with a successful author, a children’s author the kids are often familiar with because we have copies of the books in our school library. They talk about not only their books, but they share their craft, and their experiences as a writer or a child going through school and how they learned to love words and writing, and how they became a writer,” expressed Richard Cameron, principal of Duclos School.
Local schools are taking advantage of the program, and will be welcoming creators of all shapes and sizes to their classrooms this week.
Duclos Elementary School and École Notre Dame Elementary will be lucky enough to invite Rita Feutl and Joan Marie Galat on Thursday, April 26.
“I love connecting with the kids who are my audience. I just get so inspired when I meet them, especially when I’m talking to them and you can see that light go on in their eyes. It’s either recognition, or they’re lost in their imagination because I have lead them somewhere really special,” Feutl explained.
Duclos has taken part in the Wordpower tour for quite a few years, Cameron said.
He believes it’s a wonderful way to inspire students to become more interested in writing.
“We want them to be motivated writers themselves and to love language and words. We want them to be completely literate, and to do that they need to be able to read and write well, they also need math literacy. I think the whole package of becoming strong and literate young people is part of their experience in school,” he expressed.
Stephanie Gregorwich, executive director of the Young Alberta Books Society, and organizer of the Wordpower tour, agrees.
“We’ve found literacy is an ongoing concern in our education. It’s such a base skill in the success of all of our educational endeavors, and in life in general. One of the best ways we have discovered to promote that, is by connecting students with the creators of the books they have in their libraries,” Gregorwich emphasized.
By working with Alberta-based authors, illustrators, and storytellers, Gregorwich hopes they’re opening up the eyes and minds of youth to potential careers and stories.
She said, “They get the first-hand experience of talking to a creator of a story that they may have connected with before. They might even decide this is something worth reading in the future, and discover reading is a whole lot more fun than they thought it was.”
Through the tour, the Young Alberta Books Society is trying to instill the love of reading at an early age, so students will carry their interest in literacy throughout their life.
On Friday, April 27, students of Notre Dame High School and Glendon School will be learning a unique craft: cartooning.
Gerry Rasmussen will be making the trip from Edmonton as part of the Wordpower tour. He said he is excited to plant the seed of a creative and out-of-the-box career.
“The Wordpower tour is my favourite because it’s intense. You get to visit so many schools and you get to talk to kids who may not normally have access to workshops like that. That is always a really special thing for me, because something like what I do really resonates with kids,” Rasmussen stated. “Elementary school or junior high school kids are so receptive to everything I talk about and do with them in my workshop. It’s such a thrill.”
Galat was first published when she was 12-years-old. Since then, she has carried the mindset that regardless of how old you are, if you enjoy something, simply do it.
She hopes through her presentation, students will realize their potential.
“I’m hoping students will take away the fact that reading and writing is fun,” Galat said. “I have a special message for kids. It doesn’t matter how old you are if you want to be good at writing, reading, or anything else really, what matters is how much you practice.”
She added, “No one is born a perfect writer. A person who becomes an author or a good writer, is someone who when they think they’re done they always go back to the beginning and make it better.”
For educators, the Wordpower tour is bringing literacy to a whole new level.
“When we can bring in extra experiences like Wordpower, theatre groups, or even musical performances, it just enriches their whole experience,” said Cameron. “I think this is just a great program, because it’s promoting and sharing Alberta authors with schools across the province. We’re just really happy that we here at Duclos School get to benefit from it.”
This is why year after year, the Young Alberta Books Society brings authors from across the province together; to share their knowledge and make an impact.
