Beau Valley Public School gets helping hand from fundraiser

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

Oshawa’s Beau Valley Public School will soon see an influx of new reading material.

Beau Valley was recently selected as a recipient for the Indigo Adopt-A-School Program, through which partial proceeds of sales at the Oshawa store from a three-week period in September and October will be donated to help purchase new books for its library/learning commons.

Members of the public were also able to donate online to support the more than 350 schools selected for the program.

Teacher/librarian Kristina Thomas says they’ve been informed that $8,000 has been raised so far, with donations continuing to roll in.

Both students and staff have started a wish list of the books they’d like to have, she says.

Thomas added that once they receive the funding from Indigo, they are planning on having students travel to the store and pick up the books themselves.

Despite living in a technology-drive world, Thomas says students still love to read.

“Those two things can be layered. Technology and reading don’t have to be exclusive of each other,” she says.

As a smaller school with a student population of around 230, resources for the learning commons aren’t always plentiful according to Beau Valley principal Lisa Hill.

“These new books will help the students see the world outside our walls,” Thomas says. “We have a growing ESL program and another board initiative is teaching students about indigenous peoples.”

Thomas says the learning commons is a “hub in the school and needs to be run by the students.”

It’s a space that offers more than just books, filled with technology-based learning resources, and a meeting place for both students and staff.

“We have a lot of teacher development in the learning commons and all our staff meetings are held there. Kristina has done a great job of creating a teacher space,” Hill observed.

“It influences everybody at the school,” Thomas added.