PGI Golf Tournament for Literacy 2003

Despite the recent cold snaps and seemingly never-ending winter, golf is very much in the air. A sure sign of spring at LPQ is our golf tournament, and this year we are once again busy planning the PGI Golf Tournament for Literacy on Monday, May 26, 2003 at Cedarbrook Golf Club.

Larry Smith, President and Publisher of The Gazette is our Honorary Chairperson. Larry will golf with as and will also emcee the event, ensuring an evening of fun and entertainment.

We hope that our members and the rest of the literacy community will support this fundraising event. Proceeds will help support projects in literacy across the province, so the more we raise the more you benefit. For more information about how you can participate, please call the LPQ office.

Come read with me!

This project, a partnership of LPQ, Quebec Federation of Home and School Associations and The Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages is already a success even before the entries have been received.

To date, 26 schools are participating, representing 9 of the 10 English School Boards across the province. Participants attend schools from the Gaspé and Littoral to Western Quebec.

Project Co-ordinator Julie Thiébauld speaks enthusiastically about the early response. She notes that teachers and principals who have responded are very excited about the project. Many of the teachers have indicated that their students should be reading more, and the contest is a perfect way to motivate them. Some teachers were elated about the fact that the authors to be studied had to be Canadian. Many claimed that they wanted to sign up their entire schools.

Also, some of the schools are exploring the subject of literacy, therefore the competition is a perfect complement to their curriculum.

This awareness of literacy was one of the main objectives of the contest, and we are extremely encouraged that even at this early stage, we are seeing positive outcomes. We anticipate that this will be the first step in making people of all ages aware of the issue.

Teachers who are already involved in the project with their students are reminded that they should submit the General Application Form, which is available on the Come read with me! Website at www.nald.ca/lpq/read.htm or call (514) 496-8024.

Raise-a-Reader Grants

LPQ is very pleased to have received a cheque for $25,930.83 representing our share of the proceeds from the Raise-a-Reader campaign last October. Sponsored by Canwest/Global and The Gazette, this national fundraising program is held to support and encourage literacy for children.

LPQ Grant applications were sent to our Regular Members in mid-March inviting them to submit proposals. These proposals will be reviewed by a committee of LPQ which will award grants to selected organizations. The entire amount will be distributed to help support children's literacy and family literacy projects being carried out by some of our member groups.

The deadline for submitting a proposal is April 30. If you are a Regular Member of LPQ and did not receive a Grant Application, please call the LPQ office.

Family Literacy Training Continues at LPQ

After a very successful Mother Goose Rhyme Time training session in November, training in Family Literacy continues at LPQ.

The next in the series of sessions will take place on Friday, May 9, 2003 when we will offer Family Literacy Awareness and Training in Volunteer Management. It seems that little of the available basic training in family literacy has been comprehensively packaged. Based on a model designed by The Centre for Family Literacy in Edmonton, Alta. LPQ has developed a training session for service providers who are interested in providing family literacy. This half-day training session will focus on:

• Family Literacy in Daily Life
• Literacy Ideas: Fact or Fiction
• Family Literacy and Health
• How Children Acquire Language
• Literacy Development in Children
• What's in a Book?
• Strategies for Supporting Family Literacy
• Supporting Adult Clients Whose Literacy Skills are Low.

The half-day session on Volunteer Recruitment and Management will focus on:

• Outreach and public awareness
• Volunteer Recruitment
• Pre-service & in-service training of volunteers
• Support services for volunteers
• Program Evaluation

These sessions will take place at Batshaw Youth and Family Services.