Chelmsford school honoured for literacy promotion

École Alliance St-Joseph in Chelmsford was recently presented with a certificate and a silver pennant by the Association canadienne d’éducation de langue française for its participation in the Sensational Race.

This friendly national competition designed to promote the French language took place as part of the Actifs et fiers competition during the 2012 National Week of the Francophonie.

The project, organized by the school's library technician, Joanne Mitchell, encouraged and promoted reading at school and at home though original and stimulating activities, according to a press release.

Alliance 500 was offered to students from junior kindergarten to Grade 2, while students from grades 3-8 took part in the Sensational Race. Both challenges were held from January to March 2012.

Alliance 500 encouraged students from junior kindergarten to grade 2 to track the minutes they spent reading, either individually, with their families or in a group.

To help motivate the youngsters, a race track was built, with each class being represented by its own vehicle.

Motivation for students from grades 3 to 8 came in the form of a geographical map of Canada, on which airplanes represented the classes taking part in the Sensational Race.

The planes advanced along their routes and reached specific cities, whereupon the students were asked questions pertaining to the particular destination. Correct answers earned bonus minutes to continue moving forward.

The competition achieved great success, as students became enthralled and more passionate about reading, the press release said.

In fact, during the event, the youngsters amassed no less than 948,826 minutes of reading, all told.

Posted by Laurel Myers