Christine Grimard
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 2, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - The NWT has emerged victorious in the 2007 Read for 15 Challenge.

Thirty-two per cent of NWT residents read for at least 15 minutes on Oct. 1, in a competition with Yukon and Nunavut to see who could get the highest participation rate.

Staff at the NWT Literacy Council celebrates the NWT winning the Read for 15 Challenge. As the victorious territory, the council will ask the premiers from the Yukon and Nunavut to wear the T-shirts pictured for one day. From left Helen Balanoff, Cate Sills, Karen Leyk, and Brenda Green. - Christine Grimard/NNSL photo

That translates into 13,831 people who participated in total.

Cate Sills, executive director of the NWT Literacy Council, said that's especially impressive considering the day coincided with the territorial elections.

"With the election day we were surprised. We didn't think we would get that number," said Sills.

Yukon finished second with a 22.8 per cent participation rate and 21 per cent of Nunavummiut participated. Last year, the NWT tied with Nunavut for first place with 31 per cent participation.

The victory will bring recognition to the territories as the two other premiers will be asked to wear the winning territory's literacy T-shirt for a day.

With our recent change in premier, however, it might take time to co-ordinate that, said Sills.

Charlotte Babicki, chair of the literacy team for the department of Public Works and Services, got her staff together for a group read during a coffee break.

"It was a very quiet meeting," said Babicki on what took place Oct. 1. With e-mails sent to all the regions to get everyone on board, Babicki got 126 people to take part.

Within the department, Babicki said they promote literacy year-round through poster contests, and scrabble tournaments in the winter.

As reading encourages plain language communication, Babicki says literacy can benefit the department as a whole.

"We want to be able to communicate with clients," said Babicki. "If everyone remembers to communicate in a way that everyone can understand, that's good."

At the Yellowknife Book Cellar, Georgina Johnston and staff collected names by asking everyone who came to the cash register whether they had read that day.

Johnston said that even for people who hadn't recently opened a book, they were able to show them they had in fact read.

"We just pointed out how much people read and how literacy is a part of our lives," said Johnston. "From reading e-mails to understanding posters and signs, it would be hard to function without literacy in this world."

Michele Boriel, who mobilized people at the department of Indian and Northern Affairs, said she sent out an e-mail explaining the challenge. With the staff reading so much as part of their everyday jobs, she said it wasn't difficult to get a positive response.

"Literacy is the absolute foundation," said Boriel. "Even as you get older you tend to read less. If you don't have those literacy skills, you're at such a disadvantage.