October 5, 2007
Volume 7 No. 2

EdInfo is a weekly electronic digest of education news and information distributed by the BC Ministry of Education to all those with an interest in the K-12 community.

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Raise-a-Reader Day – Wednesday October 3, 2007

Since its inception in Vancouver in 1997, the Raise-a-Reader campaign and its sponsors have made significant contributions to help improve literacy for children and families across the province. The B.C. government has been matching funds raised through the campaign since 2004. The matching funding this year will help to support more than 180 beneficiary organizations and help British Columbia continue to lead the country in Raise-a-Reader fundraising.

To date the Province has contributed over $1 million to the Vancouver Sun and Victoria Times Colonist campaigns. This year five new newspapers joined the Raise-a-Reader campaign: the Penticton Herald, the Kelowna Daily Courier, the Nanaimo Daily News, the Alberni Valley Times and the Prince George Citizen.

In recognition of Raise-a-Reader day, EdInfo would like to point your attention to two excellent web resources for literacy: ReadNow BC and the BC Literacy Directory.

ReadNow BC is a government action plan that promotes literacy programs and resources to help all British Columbians improve their reading skills. The website has links to literacy programs for all ages. There is also a phone hotline (1-888-732-3234) that people can call for help to find literacy programs in their community.

BC Literacy Directory is another excellent resource with an interactive map that people can use to find information on literacy programs in any area of the Province.

Ministerial Orders: Board of Education Fees Order

The Board of Education Fees Order has been approved by the Minister of Education and may be viewed in the online Manual of School Law.

Commonwealth Essay Competition 2008

Topics and guidelines for the 2008 Commonwealth Essay Competition have been released. The competition receives entries from students ages 12-18. In 2007, 50,000 students from across the globe participated in the competition.

CBC Archives – A Resource for Students and Teachers

The CBC Archives offer students and educators a variety of material for exploration. Their Mordecai Richler Was Here page, for example, offers dozens of English and French language TV and radio clips on this Canadian literary icon which make an excellent resource for students of Literature, French or Canadian Social and Political History. The CBC Archive has a special section for teachers. Search the topic index to find packages of information on a huge range of topics from the history of the snowmobile to the Air India investigation.