ABC Life Literacy Canada will be hosting a free online information session on their programs on February 25th from 11am – 12pm Atlantic time. This session will be available for organizations in New Brunswick. See below for more information:

What

An information session on ABC Life Literacy Canada’s free adult literacy programs:

• Money Matters, a financial literacy program
• UP Skills for Work, a workplace literacy program
• Youth Teaching Adults and ABC Internet Matters, two digital literacy programs

When

• Date: Thursday, February 25th
• Time: 10:00am – 11:00am ET/ 11am – 12pm AST

Who will be attending

• Attendees include non-profit organizations, businesses, and other community leaders

What you’ll get – Network and sharing opportunities

• You’ll learn about how ABC’s free programming can help support your community
• You’ll have the opportunity to learn about and from other organizations, businesses, and leaders in your area

What’s more – Surprise gift card!

• As a thank-you for participating, the first 21 organizations who register for and attend will receive a surprise gift card 
• Limit to one card per organization/business

To register

• Register here

The Literacy Coalition is happy to announce that we have been awarded a grant from United Way Centraide through their COVID-19 Emergency Community Support Fund (ECSF) Round 2. Funded by the Government of Canada, the ECSF was established to help organizations continue their work in attending the needs of vulnerable people in the community. LCNB was awarded a grant of $3,000 to help reprint and distribute our early literacy booklets in four languages. Let’s Learn! A parent’s guide to giving your child a great start provides tips and ideas for encouraging family literacy in everyday life and lots of fun activities for the whole family. These funds will ensure we can print and ship these booklets to service providers who are in direct contact with young families and vulnerable people.

We are so grateful to receive this grant so we can get these literacy resources into the hands of families at a time when many are struggling due to COVID-19 and not able to attend in person programs. Thank you to United Way Centraide and the Government of Canada for selecting us as recipients. We are looking forward to helping families across New Brunswick with our Let’s Learn booklets!

Our Dr. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell Literacy Awards may have looked quite different this year, but we are happy to announce that the virtual event was a success! Taking place on Zoom for the first time, the award ceremony was held on November 26^th with over 60 participants. Lynda Homer, LCNB Executive Director, was Master of Ceremonies. Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, Dominic Cardy, brought greetings from the province and spoke about the importance of literacy, which is relevant now more than ever in these turbulent times. Dr. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell spoke about the power of literacy and how important these awards are. Finally, Brent Melanson, LCNB President, gave the closing remarks.

As a special highlight for the winners, a video was put together by LCNB with messages recorded by friends and coworkers to congratulate the winners. This video was presented at the end of the ceremony after the winners accepted their awards.

Congratulations to the 2020 winners! Thank you to everyone who participated in the Zoom ceremony! You can watch the ceremony by clicking here.

Early Childhood Literacy – Talk with Me/Parle-moi

Talk with Me/Parle-moi is the only free community-based speech-language pathology services in NB. The program is funded by the government of New Brunswick and works directly with parents and early childhood service providers to strengthen early language and communication development of all young children in NB in both official languages. The award was accepted by Laura Garland for Talk with Me, and Josée Castonguay for Parle-moi.

Outstanding Effort in Indigenous Literacy – Gail Francis

Gail Francis of Negotkuk (Tobique First Nation) is the Autism/Resource Specialist for for Three Nations Education Group Inc. She has recently launched a culturally based Indigenous children’s book, entitled “Moonbeam” which highlights traditional naming practices. Her niece, Tara Audibert, illustrated the book, and helped Gail start her own publishing company, Francis Books.

Published Author – Armand Doucet, Hope, Where Are You?

Armand Doucet is a teacher in Riverview, NB. Armand has co-written a book that he hopes will help children around the globe open up to their parents about the stresses of living with the COVID-19 pandemic. His book, “Hope, Where Are You?” was co-authored by Elisa Guerra, a fellow teacher living in Mexico, and illustrated by her daughter, Ana RoGu, also of Mexico. The book is available free online and proceeds from the print book are being donated to UNICEF.

Individual Outstanding Contribution to Literacy – Kim Stewart & Jill Davidson

Kim is an experienced educator, researcher and assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick. Jill Davidson is a Literacy Coordinator for 21 Middle and High Schools across Anglophone West School District in Fredericton, New Brunswick. They are receiving this award not only for their innovative Shelfie-Talk Twitter program but also for their exemplary contribution to professional learning for educators in New Brunswick and beyond.

Individual Outstanding Contribution to Literacy – Bob Savoie

A partner with KPMG, Bob Savoie has been a tireless volunteer for literacy for over 20 years. As a longtime member of the NB PGI team he has helped raise over $1.5 million in his tenure with PGI for literacy programs.

We are excited to announce the award winners for this year’s Dr. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell Literacy Awards. The winners will accept their awards during the ceremony on November 26th, which will be held via Zoom.

Established in 1998 by Dr. Marilyn Trenholme Counsell, former New Brunswick lieutenant-governor and senator and now past president of the Literacy Coalition of New Brunswick (LCNB), these awards recognize outstanding achievements in the fields of literacy and essential skills.

The winners are:

In the category of Early Childhood Literacy, the award winner is Talk with Me – Parle-moi. A free community-based speech-language pathology services in NB, the program is funded by the government of New Brunswick and works directly with parents and early childhood service providers to strengthen early language and communication development of all young children in NB in both official languages. 

Our 2020 award winner in the Outstanding Effort in Indigenous Literacy category is Gail Francis who works for Three Nations Education Group Inc. as the Autism/Resource Specialist, has recently launched a culturally based Indigenous children’s book, entitled “Moonbeam” which highlights traditional naming practices.

This year’s recipient in the published author category is Armand Doucet. A teacher in Riverview, N.B, Armand has co-written a book entitled, “Hope, Where Are You?”  This book is the story of six children around the world who are experiencing school closures because of the COVID-19 pandemic.  The book is available free online and proceeds from the print book are being donated to UNICEF.  

Our first winners in the Outstanding Contribution to Literacy Category are Kim Stewart and Jill Davidson are receiving this award not only for their innovative Shelfie-Talk Twitter program but also for their exemplary contribution to professional learning for educators in New Brunswick and beyond.

Kim is an experienced educator, researcher and assistant professor in the Faculty of Education, University of New Brunswick. Jill Davidson is a Literacy Coordinator for 21 Middle and High Schools across Anglophone West School District in Fredericton, New Brunswick.

Our final winner in the Outstanding Contribution to Literacy Category is Bob Savoie. A partner with KPMG, Bob has been a tireless volunteer for literacy for over 20 years. As a long time member of the NB PGI team he has helped raise over $1.5 million in his tenure with PGI for literacy programs.

Congratulations to all the winners! We look forward to seeing you all virtually on November 26th.