For the first time in St. George’s history, our Grade 8 students have partnered with the Reading Bear Society. This program sends Grade 8 students to various elementary in the Vancouver East side and pairs a Grade 8 student with a “buddy” in kindergarten. The Reading Bear Society is an organization dedicated to literacy in children. Mrs. LeBlanc, the teacher in charge of the program at our school had this to say about the program: ” The positive impact and importance of the reading bear program was re-enforced last week when I attended a session at Admiral Seymour Elementary…one of our weaker students, who is having a challenging year, spent the entire session entangled in play with his reading buddy – laughing and engaging in their reading task. It was a perfect demonstration of heart. If we don’t teach heart there is little foundation with which to build a man of character. ” For the last visit, we accompanied them to Admiral Seymour Elementary School.  The Reading Bear Society bases their education around 4 pillars, which encompass all parts of learning.

The 4 Pillars are:
Literacy: The Reading Bear Society believes in promoting lifelong literacy, improving learning and health throughout entire lives.

Heart-Mind Education: Remembering that teaching compassionate and empathetic values are just as important as teaching the mind.

Inter-generational Mentorship: The Reading Bear Society supports meaningful relationships between the mentor and mentee.

Community: Supports meaningful connections and contributions within the community. The Reading Bear Society promotes as sense of belonging within the community.

The Creed went along with the Grade 8 students to film the process and interview some of the kindergartners. We interviewed some of the children about their experiences in the program, and what they thought about the program and their buddies.