L es e¢eee eee eee eee ee eee 4Parenthése | eo eee eee |'6cole. Celle-ci est allée dans chaque classe expliquer le projet aux enfants qui ont tout de suite embarqué a sa suite ! Quelques parents ont participé aux activités de soutien, comme la traduction des lettres pré- sentant le projet et les photocopies. En quatre semaines, |’ organisation et l'activité étaient réalisées ! En avril 2007, les éléves de I’Ecole Gabrielle-Roy de Surrey vont & nou- veau tenter de relever le défi du lecturothon. Et les parents qui orga- niseront l'activité cette année auront encore moins de travail 4 faire, puisque les documents produits (mémo, certificats, etc) il y a deux ans peuvent 6tre réutilisés cette année. Et il y a fort d parier que les ensei- gnants et les familles vont embarquer encore une fois dans |’aventure car, de toutes facons, la lecture fait partie de la routine de la salle de classe et aussi de la routine du coucher 4 la maison ! Pour obtenir plus d'information sur l’activité lecturothon, vous pouvez communiquer avec Thomas Quigley, président de |'APE de |'Ecole Gabrielle-Roy de Surrey, par courriel d : apegabroy@yahoo.ca . Toute |'’6quipe de la Fédération des parents vous souhaite, ainsi qu’da votre famille, un trés joyeux congé de fin d’année ! oeveeeeeoeees La voix des parents de Colombie-Britannique Clin doeil des communauteés-écoles eee eee ee eee eoe se eres sees see eseseeeseesenees e APE of Surrey had a brilliant idea for a fundraising project: or- ganize a reading marathon! The event was so successful that the parents are planning a repeat in the spring of 2007. The idea is relatively simple: for two weeks during April Reading Month students promise to read for 15 minutes in class and 15 minutes at home daily. To help in their commitment, each child finds at least four sponsors who agree fo contribute a minimum of $1 for each hour of reading that the student completes during the marathon (5 hours per student). The young people are invited to find sponsors among their immediate circle of family, neighbours, etc. Tax receipts are issued to any donor who gi- ves $20 or more. If we calculate for the 150 students in the school, that’s a possible $3000! The key to success is in mobilizing all of fhe players involved in the school community. For example, in Surrey, the entire school community endorsed the project, making it a real success on all fronts. In all, the students who participated in the Surrey reading marathon raised more than $3000 (each child collected $2-$250), 100 % of which went to the APE. Above all, parents, students, teachers, and even school adminis- trators helped to make the project a success. Another key mofivator to the children's commitment was having a tangible goal. The Surrey fundraiser was designed to raise funds for a playground for their newly built school. You can imagine the students’ pride when, the fall after the reading marathon, their new playground was unveiled! The beauty of a reading marathon is the activity's total compatibility with the academic goals associated with literacy and learning to read. From an organizational perspective, there is relatively little energy requi- red. At Gabrielle-Roy, for example, two parents coordinated the event with support from the deputy director of the school. The administrator explained the project to each class, then children got involved! Several parents helped with support activities, such as translation of letters to introduce the project and photocopying. Organization and the event were complete in only four weeks! In April 2007, the students of Gabrielle-Roy in Surrey will attempt again to meet the challenge of the reading marathon. The parents who will organize the event this year have even less work to do, since the docu- ments published two years ago (memo, certificates, etc.) can be used again. It's a fairly sure bet that teachers and families will embark once again on the adventure, since reading is already a part of both the classroom routine and nightly bedtime routine anyway! For more information concefning the reading marathon, contact Tho- mas Quigley, APE Gabrielle-Roy president, Surrey; email: apegabroy@ yahoo.ca.