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Families gathered around a glowing faux campfire in a classroom at Fairview Elementary, as music filled the air.

“We were like, singing rhyming songs with Dr. Saul,” said Grade 3 student Addison. “We had to do rhyming about animals, like a bear combing his hair.”

The campfire was just one of the stations at Fairview’s family literacy event on May 29.

“The point is […] to promote literacy but also to show parents and kids how it can be fun,” said Sheralyn Rowledge-Toscani, a Grade 2/3 teacher who helped organize the event. “And learning happens more often if you’re having fun while you’re doing it.”

The after-school event began with a welcome in the gymnasium before families divided into primary and intermediate groups for author read-alouds. Participants then rotated through stations including a campfire sing-along, poetry café, literacy games, quiet reading corner and story workshop. At the end, the group came back together in the gym for family trivia.

“Books can take you on such adventures,” Rowledge-Toscani said. “Hopefully we have students that will be authors, they will be readers for their whole [lives].”

It’s important for people to read, said Sabrina Moes, who attended the event with her daughter Abagail, a Grade 2 student.

“Kids just need to be excited about books,” she said. “We’re actually trying to write a book and this, I figured, would just get her more excited and to read.”

The book they’re writing, Abagail added, is “about a unicorn, a dragon, and a fox.”

Reading is also useful, according to Addison.

“It just really helps me with spelling,” she explained.