Last weekend, over 400 people flocked to various locations around the West Shore to celebrate – and participate in – learning and literacy.
The third annual Family Learning Tour was put on by Your Literacy Connection Westshore (YLCW) in collaboration with various community partners, and according to YLCW literacy outreach coordinator Shantel Sleight, it was another huge success.
“The partnerships and involvement in this year’s event made it a rich experience for all ages,” Sleight says, “Without these partnerships we couldn’t offer such an event. We hope that by working together in this way we can build awareness of the value that literacy plays in our daily lives and in the fabric of our communities.”
Sleight says that most families who participated toured between two or three of the various activities that were on offer, which ranged from hikes through the paths around West Shore Parks and Recreation reading a story, to making crafts with a local artist to a trolley ride story time with a local librarian. There was no set path or route designated for the “tour,” but rather a series of stations set up around the region at which people could drop in at their liesure.
Based on the success of this year’s event, and the increased interest Sleight has seen over the three years of the event, she’s hopeful there will be a fourth.