The Lucknow Sentinel, 2016-06-22, Page 1The
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Wednesday, June 22, 2016
Darryl Coote/Reporter
Steve Neeb, who worked for both the Canadian and United States armed forces, shows students a video about serving in the military during the Lucknow Central Public School Living Library recently.
Lucknow Central Living Library introduces students to different ways of life
Darryl Coote
Reporter
Proving Mark Twain's
claim true that "every person
is a book," the Lucknow Cen-
tral Public School (LCPS)
held its 4th annual Living
Library early June allowing
students the opportunity to
interact with people from all
walks of life.
From a professional hockey
player to a gay man, from a
journalist (yours truly) to a
family with a differently abled
child, from a correctional
officer to a recovering addict,
local students were given the
opportunity to thumb through
the pages of 16 living books to
gain a better understanding of
how others live.
Cierra Johnston, a former
LCPS student and daughter of
the school's educational assis-
tant Jean Johnston, has been
helping to organize this event
for the past three years
because she said she's "inter-
ested in opening new door."
"I didn't have anything
like this when I was in
school," she said.
The purpose of the Living
Library, she said, is to expose
students to both different
career possibilities and
lifestyles.
"On the career aspect, it
opens their eyes to a lot of
different possibilities
because we are expected to
think about what we want to
do pretty young, she said. "A
lot of these kids are at the
end years of elementary
school and then there's only
four years of high school and
then you're expected to
decide, so it's good to get
exposed to different options
as young as possible."
Careers represented dur-
ing the event ranged from
realtor to naval officer.
Concerning different life-
styles, she said, the living
library offers the students,
whom are in Grades 6-8, the
opportunity to meet and
speak with people they may
not run into in Lucknow.
One living book the school
has always made a con-
certed effort to have repre-
sented at the event is an
LGBT person, she said, so
students can understand
they are no different than
anyone else.
"In such a small town,
people don't get exposed to
that and I think it's a good
thing when you're this young
to know it is okay and it's
normal, otherwise they may
never meet someone and
put a face to it," she said.
It also allows the students
to gain a better understand-
ing about the struggles oth-
ers experience and hearing
their stories first-hand might
create a greater sense of
empathy, she said.
"There are people with dis-
abilities and [the students]
might have negative ideas
about," she said. "But if they
get to put a face to it and get to
talk to someone that they may
not have otherwise."
Danielle Livingston, who
with her family participated
as a living book, said it
allowed her to create a dia-
logue with the students
about what it's like to raise a
child with a disability.
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