Redcliff students adopt 8 gorillas

Margaret Wooding School’s librarian, Celena Gerl, who selected the book, figured the true story of Ivan, a gorilla kept in a cage in a mall, would be a hard story for students to put down.

“I chose ‘The One and Only Ivan’ because of its readability – it covers a lot of reading levels, and it’s just a wonderful story so I knew that it would be hard for kids to not be engaged with it. From there, throughout the six weeks, the kids were reading it from home, but there were activities happening at the school to get excited about the book,” said Gerl.

One activity included the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund. Upon learning about it, students wanted to raise money and adopt eight endangered gorillas being housed in Rwanda. The librarian suggested adopting just one or two gorillas, which ranged from $75 to $200. But the students protested, insisting they adopt all eight. This meant they needed to raise $700 instead.

“As you’re going down the hallway, I had the little meter show where we were going in our fundraising and you could hear the kids going, ‘oh, look at how much we’ve raised now, and we’re getting closer.’ They were really excited, and it was a vested interest they had,” said Gerl.

The students surpassed their goal within six weeks, raising $920, through bake sales, donating a loonie on Fridays to wear a hat, parent donations and a cotton candy sale. Lily Lasson, a Grade 6 student, says she’s also learned from the book about the need to protect animals, like Ivan.

“I learned that we need to help animals that are endangered because they are really important and each animal is really important to the world, so we need to make sure it’s living in the right habitat and it’s getting the right support and food,” said Lasson.

Gerl says some gorillas in Rwanda are endangered from poaching and mining.

The remaining donations will support the Calgary zoo’s gorilla exhibit. One of the best parts though, according to the librarian, is they get real-time updates on the gorillas – students and staff can log into a website and view live footage of the gorillas. Gerl finds these real life activities further engages the students.

“I thought making that connection to the real world in the story would be engaging for the kids – and it was, everybody got on board and was really excited about it,” said Gerl.

This is the first time the school’s done One Book, One School, and considering the students’ response, there will be more projects and books to come.

by Angela Kazmierczak

Redcliff students adopt 8 gorillas

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