The Classroom on Wheels (COW) Bus stopped in Jasper on April 12, and left behind a donation of 50 children’s books. 

Children ages 0 to 6 were invited on board to check out games, books and toys, while spending quality time with their parents. 

Before the bus opened just after noon, the COW Bus’ two facilitators, Megan Vander Griend and Darren Hinger spoke with community members who are involved in literacy programs in Jasper at the Habitat for the Arts. 

Councillor Brenda Zinck spoke on behalf of the town, referencing a report by the United Nations outlining the importance of literacy. Zinck said that literacy goes beyond reading books and writing and that literacy promotes healthy communities. 

Kathleen Waxer, director of family and community services, thanked Hinger and Vander Griend and discussed the programs available in Jasper at Community Outreach Services (COS). 

“We certainly recognize the huge value of literacy and how it enriches every child’s life,” Waxer said. 

Les Dolan, youth/teen outreach worker at COS, further discussed the importance of literacy in the community, saying that people with low literacy levels will have trouble reading a bus schedule, proper medicine dosages, newspapers and accessing other news mediums. She discussed the relationship between low literacy levels and low income, citing a study done on Canadian literacy rates. 

“We would assume in Canada that we would have a high proportion of literate people,” Dolan said. She added that in 1994, it was determined that 42 per cent of Canadians, or eight million people had literacy skills below the minimum level to cope with the demands of every day life. 

“That’s what we have to think about in terms of our own community, because it would be no different than anywhere else in Canada,” Dolan said. 

Since that study was produced, Dolan said governments at all levels have begun to recognize literacy as an important part of communities and are planning more programs designed to tackle the issue. 

As for Jasper, Dolan said it is important to have programs that can help people in all stages of life, from newborn to senior. 

“Where ever people are at, we want to make sure our systems address people’s needs,” she said. 

Ginette Marcoux-Frigon, executive director of the Adult Learning Council, has noticed a relationship between children struggling with literacy and their parents also needing assistance. 

“If adults are coming to our program with low literacy, there’s a very good chance their children will have low literacy as well,” Marcoux-Frigon said. “If you’re dealing with children who have low literacy or are struggling in your programs, you should be making sure that you’re talking to and helping parents connect to our programs; and sometimes that connection gets lost.”

Hinger thanked Jasper for welcoming the bus, and encouraged everyone to come by and check it out. 

The COW Bus is part of the Alberta government’s literacy awareness campaign as part of the Centre for Family Literacy. 

“We try to connect with parents and show them all the incidental things that happen through the day that children are learning so much from,” Hinger said. 

The COW Bus welcomes parents and encourages learning in the home, before children get to public school. 

“We try to really celebrate those things that we do in the home,” Hinger said. “Learning doesn’t begin in kindergarten; it starts from birth and there’s so much that they learn in those first six years.”

Hinger and Vander Griend left behind 50 children’s books donated by the United Way and Alberta Advanced Education that will be available to the community through the library. 

The bus, which has been in operation since 2003, set up outside the library for several hours following the presentation to welcome children for fun and games with their parents, while learning. Parents were able to listen to ideas on how to strengthen literacy in their homes from Hinger and Vander Griend.