Congratulations to all the winners of the first Monthly Book Draw of the 2015/2016 WOW Reading Challenge!

• Donkin Gowrie
• George D. Lewis Elementary
• Shipyard Elementary
• Mira Road Elementary
• John Bernard Croak Elementary
• L Un Sipuk Kina muokuom Senior High
• Upper Stewiacke Elementary School
• West Colchester Consolidated Elementary
• Oxford Regional Education Centre
• Cavalier Drive Elementary
• Sycamore Lane Elementary
• L nu Sipuk Kima muoknom Elementary
• Uniacke District School
• Water Duggan Consolidated
• Pictou Landing First Nations School
• Pictou Elementary School
• New Glasgow Academy
• Thorburn Consolidated School
• West Pictou Consolidated
• Wagmatcook School
• Yarmouth Central Elementary
• Meadowfield Elementary
• South Centennial Elementary
• Port Maitland Consolidated

Total number of participating schools : 75
Total number of participating Students : 13,503
Total Number of Books Read : 462,042 at the Elementary level.
Total number of Pages Read : 1,958,742 at the Middle School and High School Level

Click here to view complete list of 2018 Winners!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2016 Wow! Reading Challenge Winners Crowned (view as PDF)

(Tuesday April 19, 2016) -Ten years, and still going strong! The 2016 Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program’s Wow! Reading Challenge came to an end on April 1st, and the totals show that reading as a competitive sport in Nova Scotia is serious business.

Ten years ago, the humble beginnings of the Wow! Reading Challenge began with one rural school tucked away in picturesque corner of Pictou County. The Saltsprings Elementary School bravely answered the challenge issued by Cst. John Kennedy, RCMP with the Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program to see how many books they could read in a 1-month period. Since then, how the sport of competitive reading has grown. Schools for all ages and around the world have taken up the challenge for Wow! World Literacy supremacy. This year, 78 schools courageously participated in the reading challenge, flexed their reading ability prowess and powered through a whopping grand total of 959,658 books at the elementary school level and 1,793,449 pages at the middle and high school levels.

As a result, the bragging rights for World Literacy supremacy go to the following Gold Medal winners -

• Elementary School Level: 
  • Fiddler’s Division - Donkin-Gowrie Complex (Elementary School)
  • Tartan Division - A.G. Baillie Memorial School
• Middle School Level:
  • Fiddler’s Division - Hants North Rural Middle School
  • Tartan Division - Sir Robert Borden Junior High School
• High School Level:
  • Fiddler’s Division - Springhill Senior High School
  • Tartan Division - Breton Education Senior High School.  
• First Nation Elementary School Level:
  • Fiddler’s Division -  L nu Sipuk Kina moukuom Elementary School
  • Tartan division - Eskasoni Elementary School
• First Nation Middle School:
  
  • Wagmatcookewey Middle School
• First Nation High School:
  • Wagmatcookewey High School.
• French Division:
  • Ecole Belleville
• Justice Division:
  • Kings Regional Rehabilitation Center

Past Champions Category:

• Elementary School Level–
  • Fiddler’s Division - Shipyard Elementary School
  • Tartan Division - Walter Duggan Elementary School,
• Middle School Level:
  • Fiddlers Division -West Colchester Middle School 
  • Tartan Division - Malcolm Munroe Middle School
• First Nations School Level:
  • Membertou Elementary School.  

The Challenge ran from November 1, 2015 to April 1, 2016 for Elementary Schools and from November 30, 2015 to April 1, 2016 for Middle and High Schools.  The Wow! Reading Challenge is open to any school in the world that wishes to participate. The Reading Challenge is hosted by the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library through a partnership with Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program, the RCMP, local policing agencies, schools, school boards and community sponsors. To learn more, go to www.fightingcrime.ca.

-30 -

Media Contact:
Const. John Kennedy, RCMP  
Provincial Coordinator, Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program
Phone: 1(902) 755-6031 or toll-free 1(866)779-7761
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Click here to download media release (PDF)

First Book Canada is bringing thousands of books to Nova Scotia for children in-need served by community organizations and educators to use in promoting literacy across the province in the coming months.

There will be five major Book Ceilidhs held across the province, the largest one being in Halifax on Wednesday, June 15th. On that day, 25 000 books will be handed out to literacy advocates. Smaller Book Ceilidhs will be held at four other locations around the province - Pictou County with the Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program, Tatamagouche with Literacy Nova Scotia, in Port Dufferin with the local Literacy Network, and the final Ceilidh will take place in Digby with the Digby Education Centre. In total, 37,500 books will go into the hands of children in-need.

First Book Canada is based in Ontario and provides literacy resources across the country. To date they have given out over 4.5 million books and are now hoping to improve the lives of young people in Nova Scotia by tapping into the network of educators and community-based programs working tirelessly to try make to literacy a priority for all Nova Scotians.
For more information or to register as a member of First Book Canada please visit www.firstbookcanada.org.

--30--

RCMP Const. John Kennedy
Provincial Coordinator
Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(902) 755-6031

Wayne Cochrane
Senior Director of Operations & Network Engagement
First Book Canada
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(416) 319-7502
** Best reached by media on June 14th and June 15th

(Tuesday, October 16, 2018) - The Adopt-A-Library Literacy Program’s WOW! Reading Challenge began in Pictou County twelve years ago, and has grown to include divisions for all ages (daycares and Preschools, Elementary, Middle/Junior High, and High Schools, and new this year – private/separate and home-schools too!). “We’re excited to begin!” says John Kennedy, AAL Program Coordinator, “It’s our 12th year, and we’re still going strong!”

This reading competition is open to all schools, preschools, private/separate schools and home-schools in Pictou and Antigonish Counties, and it is free! All competitions will close on April 1st, 2019. Preschools and Elementary Schools will count the total number of books read, while Middle Schools and High Schools will count the total number of pages read.

To learn more, please check our website, www.fightingcrime.ca, or contact John Kennedy, Coordinator for the Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program.

To register, for any school or preschool who wishes to register in Antigonish and Pictou Counties, click here to fill out the WOW Registration Form!
If you have any questions or concerns about registration, please contact Karen MacNeill (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; (902) 755-6031 or 1(866) 779-7761), at Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library Headquarters.

For interested schools located outside of Pictou and Antigonish Counties, please contact John Kennedy (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; (902) 755-6031 or 1(866) 779-7761), who will provide the contact information for your local municipal police force partner.

The Reading Challenge is hosted by the Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library through a partnership with local policing agencies, schools, and community sponsors.

Media Contact:

John Kennedy, RCMP (retired), M.O.M., P.H.F.
Coordinator, Adopt-a-Library Literacy Program
Pictou-Antigonish Regional Library
www.parl.ns.ca
1-902-755-6031 (work)
1-902-754-2114 (cell)
1-866-779-7761 (toll-free)
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.