AboutHow it all began:
In December 2007, School District #62 submitted an expression of interest to Literacy Now, a provincial initiative for community literacy. This initial step involved a number of dedicated people from School District #62, the District of Sooke, the Regional Literacy Coordinator and the staff of the READ society.
In 2008, School District #62, working in partnership with Legacies 2010, hired a Coordinator to meet with community members in the Sooke Region (Beecher Bay to Port Renfrew). The Coordinator gathered input, formed a steering committee and developed a regional literacy plan. You can read the plan here: Sooke Community Literacy Plan (2009/2010) Sooke Community Literacy Plan (2010/2011).
The Sooke Literacy Project Steering Committee recently hired a new Literacy Outreach Coordinator, Jodie McDonald, who will be working in the community in the coming year to implement the goals of the plan.
Who we are:
Jodie McDonald, Literacy Outreach Coordinator for East Sooke to Port Renfrew, is working closely with the Literacy steering committee, made up of 3 members of the community at large, along with representatives from the District of Sooke, Sooke Family Resource Society, Vancouver Island Regional Library, School District #62, with the EMCS Society as fiscal host for the project.
How we do it:
- Use Learning Communities framework
- Build relationships and partnerships with other organizations
- Aim to meet the learning needs of all community members
Using the Learning Communities framework*, Sooke Literacy Project builds relationships and partnerships to better meet the learning needs of all community members, to make possible the successful learning, development and growth of the individual, the family and the community.
* The Learning Communities framework is an internationally embraced asset-based model of community development. Its twin objectives are environmentally sustainable development and social inclusion. The model strategically links healthy individual lifestyles with healthy community and uses the concept of lifelong learning as an organizing principle.
