On May 14, Assiniboia Park Elementary School was chosen to be the only school in the province to host the SaskEnergy Willow Awards.
The Willow Awards is a volunteer run, non-profit organization that was established in 2001, to promote reading for Saskatchewan students. Students in participating schools receive copies of the Willow Awards Nominees books. This year there were 30 nominees broken down into three separate categories. Three separate Willow Awards are given, one for each category.
The Shining Willow Award (for young readers), The Diamond Willow Award (for readers grades 4-6) and the Snow Willow Award (for readers in grades 7-9).
Students may vote for their favorite book in any category in which they have read the minimum amount of books required. The teachers and librarian tally and submit their individual schools votes. In the first year of voting (2002), more than 5,000 students participated.
The number of ballets has increased greatly with over 14,000 votes being submitted for the 2015 Willow Awards. Participation is free for Saskatchewan students and made possible through membership donations and sponsorship.
As host, the students are required to both host and participate in the awards ceremony and Assiniboia Park did not disappoint.
A well planned out awards ceremony included students taking on several participating roles. Two students, Gregg Wiens and Makenna Ling acted as Master/Mistress of ceremony. Several other students became actors/actresses during the ceremony as they acted out a scene from the nominees novels.
In addition, students read letters from dignitaries, presented awards, participated in the choir by both singing and playing the recorder. The entire Willow Awards ceremony scene was enhanced with the decorations the students had set up throughout the school and by wearing matching Willow Awards t-shirts.
As a gesture of appreciation, the school was presented with a plaque, a willow tree (to be planted at the school) and the entire collection of books from the 2015 nominees.
This years recipients for the awards were as follows: The Shining Willow Award for the book “When I get Older - The Story Behind the Waving Flag” by K'naan with Sol Guy; the Diamond Willow Award for the book “Ultra” went to David Carroll; and the Snow Willow Award for the book “Live to Tell” went to Lisa Harrington.
In addition to the highlight of the day being the official awards ceremony, several other activities including author readings and a run around the school with nominee and Willow Award winner David Carroll. The event went off seamlessly and was enjoyed by all in attendance. Congratulations to the students and staff at Assiniboia Park School.
Anyone interested in learning more about the Willow Awards or watching the ceremony online can visit the website at www.willowawards.ca.
