DURHAM CATHOLIC DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
DCDSB Students Participate in the Forest of Reading Celebration

On Monday, May 13, over 600 elementary students across the Durham Catholic District School Board (DCDSB) and Durham District School Board (DDSB) gathered together in-person at the Ontario Tech University and Durham College Wellness Centre for the Durham Forest of Reading Celebration! This is the first time in five years that the students from Grades 2-8 were able to be together as a group for this exciting day.

The participating schools started the day off with an author parade, where their favourite authors entered the event space with excitement roaring from all corners of the room. Students had prepared signs and were able to introduce their favourite literary celebrities. Each of the 17 authors and illustrators in attendance had an opportunity to share their writing journey and give words of encouragement. This was followed by the award ceremony voted by all students who participated in the Forest of Reading program this year for their favourite book in the Silver Birch Express, Silver Birch, Yellow Cedar, the French prix Peuplier and Red Maple categories.

Following lunch and fun amped up by a DJ, the day concluded with author book signings, raffles, book sales and a big congratulations to the 50,000 students across the province who participated in the program, taking on the challenge of reading all the books.

This day would not have been possible without DCDSB and DDSB school teacher librarians fostering a love of books and a special thanks to the volunteers from the Innovation in Education Team and Library Department of Academic Services from both boards for helping put this event together as well as the authors who shared their joy of reading with the students.