A classroom library at JP II is about to get a significant addition. (Submitted Photo/Kori Taylor)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Teacher awarded

JP II classroom library receiving grant funding

Jul 12, 2022 | 1:00 PM

A significant contribution is coming to one of the classrooms at John Paul II Collegiate.

Grade 8-9 teacher Kori Taylor was excited to learn recently that she, her students and the school are receiving more than $1,000 towards an in-classroom library.

Heading into her second year teaching at the Catholic high school, Taylor had sent an application to the Book Love Foundation, which donates books to teachers across Canada and the United States.

Upon hearing the Foundation’s President Penny Kittle talk about getting books to teachers for classroom libraries, Taylor jumped at the opportunity and became one of the 55 applicants awarded grant funding, with the support of the staff at JP II. She said it will be an excellent resource for her students.

“We can purchase novels for our classrooms, to keep in the classrooms instead of the student library,” she said. “These books will belong to the teachers but are to be shared with the students of the school you work in.”

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“It’s directed at the middle school years, but all the students will have access to them.”

The focus is on buying more indigenous texts, primarily books written by and about indigenous people. Coming from a program in Saskatoon for Saskatchewan urban Native Teachers, Taylor said she’s fortunate to have come to a school like JP II.

“There’s so many people from the same background, who understood the words I was using and my humour,” she said.

While adding she’s fortunate to have had access to countless novels for a classroom library thanks to those who came before her and mentored her, Taylor said most of the books currently available were lacking that representative element, sparking the interest in adding to the classroom library.

“I don’t pass judgement on [the school] for that, but what getting this grant means is that I’m going to be able to have access to resources that are truly reflective of our school’s population,” she said.

“It is essential that the classroom libraries are up-to-date, built with student input and reflective of all our learners.”

Very open about that with the school, as the administration has been vocal about it

Taylor added that she’s excited to tell the students they won this because it will truly showcase how they’re worth it to her, the school and beyond. She also thanked school administrators for their support in the process.

“In my classroom, I emphasize and celebrate reading, and I have started seeing my students do the same,” she said. “This is truly becoming a community effort.”

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cjnbnews@pattisonmedia.com

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