LINC teacher Shehnaz Rahman’s CLB 2/3 class was rewarded for their enthusiasm and hard work when they won the literacy contest held by Decoda Literacy Solutions, an organization that promotes literacy and learning skills in BC.
The Coquitlam class submitted a home video of themselves singing “Home on the Range,” a song they had just learned. “This is a great achievement for the class as they’re working on very basic English Skills,” said Rahman. “It was not an easy venture for many of them…(but) they were very excited to participate in a province-wide competition and worked really hard over it.”
September is celebrated as Literacy Month and the Decoda contest was part of a month-long literacy campaign. Contest participants were asked to showcase how they will celebrate literacy by writing a letter, story, a poem or sending a photo, a sketch or a video.
Rahman’s students chose to do a video, selecting the entry song for its words and its tune. They took the effort to heart, even donning themselves in purple outfits, purple being the colour of literacy.
The LINC students are so excited of their accomplishment, they’ve asked Rahman for help in sending the video to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, to show how proud they are of their ability to sing an English song. But for now, the class is firming up plans on how to use the $250 prize money. Top of the list is a field trip to downtown Vancouver to take in the sights and visit exhibits of First Nations arts and culture.
