PRESS RELEASE: Leaders in Tourism and Education will gather with southeast school officials, students and community leaders for a ceremony on Friday, March 26th at Jungle Bay, to celebrate the delivery of 225 new books to the Delices, La Plaine and Petite Savanne primary schools. The press is invited to cover this event.
This event is part of an innovative literacy program called “Open Books Open Minds – Leave a Book Behind” that asks socially-minded visitors to Dominica to help meet a need for attractive children’s literature in rural communities. Guests at Jungle Bay make donations toward the purchase of new, hard-cover books written by Caribbean and international authors. This partnership between Jungle Bay Resort, the U.S. Peace Corps, and Vassar College, which was initiated in September 2009, has thus far helped to upgrade and repaint primary school libraries and encourage book borrowing among primary school students. During a recent visit to Dominica, students from Miami University of Ohio made a special contribution of books through this program to the Jones Beaupierre Primary School in La Plaine. “Open Books Open Minds” hopes to continue to spread this new model for island tourism: connecting people from around the world through the power of great children’s books.
The motivation of “Open Books Open Minds” hinges on the idea that interesting, exciting, relevant books will spark students’ confidence, knowledge and creative abilities. The 2010 book drive aims to donate collections of 150 books to each of the three schools, brightening libraries with Caribbean and multicultural themes, introductions to foreign language, geography, poetry, and scientific exploration. The program is also working toward the establishment of reading and writing clubs in rural schools. This unique program model is also being considered for the rest of Dominica and other parts of the Caribbean where tourism and communities interface.
More details about “Open Books, Open Minds – Leave a Book Behind” can be found at this webpage: www.junglebaydominica.com/leaveabook.cfm
www.junglebaydominica.com/leaveabook.cfm
– Jungle Bay Resort & Spa
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