CBAL 2012 Book List

Name  of Book	Author
Botany of Desire	Micheal Pollan
Marley and Me	John Grogon
Before I Go To Sleep	S J Watson
A Walk in the Woods	Bill Bryson
A Most Wanted Man	John Le Carre
Skin of the Lion	Michael Ondaatje
The Girls	Lori Lansens
Twenties Girl	Sophie Kinsella
The Friday Night Knitting Club	Kate Jacobs
Say You Are one of Them	Uwen Akpan
Anne of Green Gables	Lucy Maud Montgomery
The Deed of Paksenarrion	Elizabeth Moon
To Kill a Mockingbird	Harper Lee
Captian Corelli's Mandolin	Louis de Bernieres
The Five People you Meet in Heaven	Mitch Albom
Kate - Biography of Katherine Hepburn	Willian J. Mann
A Complicated Kindness	Miriam Toewes
The Host	Stephanie Meyer
The Enchanted April	Elizabeth Van Arnim
A Fine Balance	Rohintin Mistry
Other Recommendations:
The Education of Little Tree	Forest Carter
The Sparrow	Mary Doria Russell

Youth Programming

As a Literacy Coordinator, I have tried to run a variety of youth literacy programs in my community.  These programs always seem interesting to me, but they never attract the droves of youth that I always expect.  My colleagues and I always try to speculate on why the programs just are not successful.  Our list of reasons always include:

• It's on a bad day of the week (there's basketball, or hockey, or Lego Club that day)
• It's at a bad location (kids have to walk too far to get there)
• We hired the wrong facilitator (that person just doesn't know how to connect with youth)
• Kids are busy and just don't want to add something else to their schedule
• The program is too much like school, so kids just don't want to participate
• The topic isn't interesting to youth
• We didn't advertise the right way, or in the right places

Earlier this school year, we surveyed youth in two different schools.  The results confirmed that youth are busy.  The vast majority of youth are already involved in extra-curricular activities.  We also found out that a lot of kids are interested in things like creative writing, web design, and photojournalism.  The most surprising result was that kids are most comfortable attending programs that happen at the school.  This is all very interesting, but as I write this paragraph, I realize that I still don't have the information I need to create a dynamic youth program.

A few months ago, I began researching effective youth programming.  In my reading and endless Google searches, I discovered some essential practices engaged in by all successful youth programs.  They were:

1. Youth Leadership
2. Mentorship
3. Community Involvement

Youth Leadership

It is very difficult for adults, some of whom are further removed from the teenaged years than others, to remember what is like to be in that transitional stage between childhood and adulthood.  As such, we often assume certain things about youth habits and interests that are no longer relevant.  Even if we do understand current youth culture, our tendency as adults to "lead" sometimes turns youth off of the opportunities we are creating for them.

The key to creating dynamic youth programs is involving youth in all stages of the program development and implementation.  Handing over this control ensures that:

• The program topics are interesting and relevant to youth;
• The program location is appropriate;
• The facilitator is someone youth can connect with;
• The program happens on an appropriate day;
• The advertising is designed for youth, and is released through relevant media;
• The format of the program is enticing for youth.

As you can see, involving youth clears up all of the problems my colleagues and I identified when our programs failed.

Mentorship

As I was doing my research, the recurring discussion around the importance of mentorship in youth programming was surprising to me.  I assumed that youth would want as little interaction with adults as possible in extra-curricular programming, but that is not the case.  The effective implementation of mentorship programs makes for a highly successful youth program.  This shouldn't have surprised me as the development of meaningful relationships has resonance at all stages in life.

Mentorship can be a double-edged sword, however.  If implemented without the necessary training, supervision, and mentor screening, mentorship can have a detrimental effect on youth, especially on at-risk youth.  If a full-fledged mentorship program isn't possible, involving adult members of the community in regular and meaningful ways can provide youth with valuable role models.

Community Involvment


It takes time for a program to become entrenched in youth culture.  Long term programs need sustainable, long term funding sources, which cannot always be provided by the point organization.  The involvement of a variety of community members can ensure the survival of a program on a financial level.

The benefits of involving the community in the youth program, and the youth program in the community, reach a lot further than finances.  By recognizing and being involved in a youth program, community members bring importance and legitimacy to the project.  They also provide knowledge and opportunities to youth.  Youth become contributing members of the community as they volunteer, and interact positively with community members.  As a result of community involvement, programs can become a great deal more holistic.


Adults who are attempting to institute youth programs in their communities obviously care about youth, and want to create successful programs.  However, our ideas, no matter how good, are still our ideas.  We need to put the power of planning into the hands of our teenagers, while offering them strong support in order to be effective.  By working together, we can develop highly relevant youth programs that address literacy needs, develop new interests and passions, and raise up strong leaders.




Credit for most of the information in this blog post is attributed to a report entitled:

Best Practices for Youth Programs

Jennifer Bonnell, Tom Ziys

Prepared for the United Way of Greater Toronto

http://www.unitedwaytoronto.com/downloads/whatWeDo/reports/YouthBestPractices-FinalPublicReport.pdf 

The 9 Essential Skills of Christmas

Reading Text: Read "Olivia helps with Christmas" to your niece and nephew. When your nephew points out, "Olivia sounds just like Mommy!" your heart explodes, just a bit. 

Document Use: Overhear the Japanese exchange student who boards with you (in Vancouver) planning a day trip to Banff to see the Rockies in winter. Get out a map of Canada and a map of Japan, and explain how to read the scale guide. 

Numeracy: Spend all afternoon with a calculator to figure out that on a 1440 watt circuit, at 4.8 watts per string of LED lights, you can have 300 strings of lights plugged into one circuit. Get 100 strings of lights hooked up. When the house goes dark, realize that you've plugged into the same circuit that runs your son's gaming PC. 

Writing: Decide that you are going to write down Nana's sacred family recipes for posterity. Is "about yay much flour" a metric or Imperial measurement?

Oral Communication: Explain to your nine-year-old why becoming Jewish would not result in her receiving eight times the presents. 

Working With Others: After an epic, three-hour battle between your sister and your wife over which stuffing recipe to serve at Christmas dinner, finally persuade them to solve the problem like adults: let Rock, Paper, Scissors decide. 

Continuous Learning: Spend an hour researching the connection between shovelling snow and heart attacks. Leave the information open on the computer screen where your wife can see it. Relax with a malt beverage and the hockey game while she orders your teen to clear the driveway. 

Thinking Skills: Solve the following: You live in Kamloops. Your sister Susan lives in Comox; Uncle Gil lives in Prince George. The BC weather forecast for the holidays calls for -10 to -15 with chance of flurries, and possible white-out conditions. Susan has three kids under five; Gil drinks too much. Where do you spend Christmas? Answer: Las Vegas.  

Computer Use: 

• Decide you are going to order books online for everyone's presents.
• Browse the website, select books, and try to pay. 
• The system says you have an account already, and must log in. You don't remember an account, but click "password reminder" anyway. 
• It says you don't have an account, but you are a rewards member, so "click here" to configure your rewards account. 
• Click there. 
• It asks for a bunch of numbers you don't have, from some junk mail you tossed. 
• Keep clicking around for 10 minutes before you realize the truth: there is no way to give the store money, and get goods in return. 
• Google "symptoms of an aneurysm".  

Reach a Reader

The Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy provides free literacy programs for all ages in the Elk Valley, and 15 other communities in the East and West Kootenays. To support our work, we are partnering with Black Press and the Fernie Ghostriders in a Kootenay-wide fundraising campaign called "Reach a Reader".

On October 6th, you can help us "reach a reader" by making a donation in exchange for a Fernie Free Press. Members of the Fernie Ghostriders will be "selling" papers in Fernie at Extra Foods, Overwaitea, and downtown. Instead of picking up your Free Press from your normal location, consider purchasing one from the Ghostriders!

For more information on the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, go to www.cbal.org.

International Literacy Day - Literacy for Peace

Growing up, I loved making plans for my life. I would say, “When I grow up, I’m going to learn a second language,” or “I’m going to go to university”, or “I’m going to travel.” These were not lofty dreams and goals; they were entirely possible, and even probable. I would argue that many Canadian youth dream about and expect the same things. All that really stands in our way are our abilities and inclinations.

I take these freedoms so for granted, that I rarely think about what makes them possible for me. And I definitely do not think about the millions of people in the world who are not free to pursue their own desires, or develop their potential. The society in which I live has developed systems that make it possible for me to bypass concern for my basic needs in order to reach to higher pursuits.

This year’s International Literacy Day theme, “Literacy for Peace”, prompted me to ask the question, “Why am I able to be and do almost anything when so many others are not?” Of course, part of the answer is this year’s theme. My country is among the most literate, and most peaceful in the world. My country guarantees that I receive a high quality, free education; they also ensure that I am safe and secure. These two privileges allow me to go and be and do.

So what makes Canada so literate and peaceful? The answer is complex, but I believe it is important to recognize the strong connection between peace and literacy. Our ability to read and write makes it possible to know and understand. Knowing and understanding help us participate in democracy. They also assist us in building relationships with people who differ from us. These two activities alone promote peace; conversely, without them, we would be at the mercy of our ignorance and prejudices.

This article is not meant to be self-congratulatory. Yes, I am proud and thankful to live in Canada, but by no means do I think our work is done. It is a lot more difficult to be literate in 2011 than it was even fifteen years ago. The amount of information available to us means that our ability to find, analyze, synthesize and evaluate text must be very sophisticated. If we are not able to do these things, we relinquish our right to interpret the facts to individuals who are more advanced information processors.

As soon as we give up our ability to know and understand, we surrender our capacity to participate effectively in the democratic process. The qualities of our country that allow us to realize our individual potentials are maintained through our intelligent and informed decisions. If we lose the skills to become intelligent and informed, how can expect to retain our privileged Canadian rights? Democracy and peace are hard won, not by governments, but by citizens.

International Literacy Day will be celebrated around the world this September 8th. There are many amazing projects taking place to improve literacy levels and promote peace (check out UNESCO’s website for more information). I hope, though, that you also think of International Literacy Day as your day too. We live in an incredible place, with unmatched opportunities. Let’s celebrate it! Let’s continue to work for it!