I am extremely pleased today to inform my honourable colleagues of a significant accomplishment for Stephenville Primary School. It was recently announced that Stephenville Primary School has received $150,000 from Indigo Books�, For the Love of Reading Initiative.

This is a program designed to promote a life-long love of reading and learning by offering children access to new books and materials, regardless of their social or economic status.

Several months ago, Christine Manuel, vice-principal of Stephenville Primary, submitted an application to Indigo on behalf of the school. The application included details on literacy initiatives at Stephenville Primary, ideas for new initiatives, information on the school library and any community information that would be of benefit in the decision-making process.

Last week Ms. Manuel received a call from the CEO of Indigo Books telling her that the application from Stephenville Primary stood out and that due to the creative and innovative literacy initiatives presented, the school is one of 10 � and the first ever in Newfoundland and Labrador � to receive this grant.

For the next three years, the school will receive $50,000. Forty-five thousand dollars must be spent on literacy initiatives. The remaining $5,000 can be used for anything else the school deems necessary. And fortunately, Ms. Manuel won�t have to spend her days and nights trying to figure out how to spend the money: Indigo will assign a person to help the school work through the details.

Literacy is so important to our individual success. It is very encouraging to see such commitment to literacy and learning in our schools and it is wonderful to see the efforts of Stephenville Primary recognized this way. I would also like to commend Indigo Books for an initiative that can make a very real difference right in our classrooms.

When contacted, Gerald Morgan, the principal of Primary Elementary, said, "There is so much we can do with this money. It is definitely an excellent boost for literacy in our school, and for the whole Stephenville area."

On behalf of this honourable house, I offer my congratulations to Ms. Manuel and best wishes to Stephenville Primary. They now have the enviable task of figuring out how to spend $150,000 to promote literacy for our students.

2006 05 02                              1:55 p.m.