New website to share Okanagan “literacy narratives”
A group of eight Creative Writing students at UBC’s Okanagan campus are working on a series of promotional and creative activities for Project Literacy Kelowna Society (PLKS), and are seeking stories from the community about the important of literacy in our lives.
They’re collaborating with Computer Science professor Patricia Lasserre’s students to create content for a new website. In addition to a short history of Project Literacy Kelowna, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, they are setting up a travelling road show to collect “literacy narratives.”
“Literacy narratives are stories about what you remember about learning to read, or how you helped someone else learn to read, or what literacy means to you,” says Nancy Holmes, the Creative Writing professor whose students are taking on this challenge. “They are usually wonderful stories!”
The students are collecting these stories at a variety of venues such as the downtown Kelowna library, and on March 25 at the Kelowna Community Theatre during the annual Word Ruckus event. They are particularly interested in hearing stories from folks 19 years or older, and who have experience working or being tutored at PLKS, although there is no limit to who can contribute.
“This is a great time to be raising awareness about Project Literacy Kelowna,” says Lee Hannigan, a third-year Creative Writing student. “They have had their funding drastically cut by the provincial government’s community gaming grants, but a local donor, MacKay LLP Chartered Accountants, is matching all donations made before May 31, up to $10,000. We want to help out.”
Project Literacy Kelowna Society, founded in 1986, was the first independent community-based literacy organization to be chartered in British Columbia. Project Literacy is a non-profit organization offering one-to-one tutoring to adults who face literacy challenges.
The UBC students would love to hear from you if you have a story to share about the importance of literacy in your life. For your story to be shared online participants are asked to sign a consent and release forms.
For more information about how your story can inspire many, the students welcome email at literacynarrativesok@gmail.com.
This project is supported by UBC’s Learning Exchange program. For more information, contact Nancy Holmes, Department of Creative Studies at 250-807-9369 or email her at nancy.holmes@ubc.ca.
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