​Kingsclear Consolidated School opened its doors to welcome 50 families for their Book and a Bagel literacy event on Jan. 29.

"Events like today where the community comes in and shares, shows there is a passion for our school," said Principal Jason Burns. "It's just so nice to put out a call to your community and have them rally so quickly."

An annual event, Books and a Bagel got off to an early morning start with parents and students spending time together, while focused on enjoying their breakfast with a book for up to 45 minutes as part of learning and literacy in the classroom.

"It creates awareness that reading is important no matter where you are or what you are reading," said kindergarten teacher Kim Ouellette. "Family reading is especially important in the early years to promote a love for reading as they grow."

This year's Book and a Bagel at Kingsclear Consolidated School was celebrated in conjunction with Family Literacy Day. 

"It was a real collaborative effort and it was really well done," Principal Jason Burns noted. "This school has lots of shared leadership."

Burns said the elementary school has 70 students and has been working on fundraising partnerships to upgrade and update the school library. New novels, picture books and more visual graphic novels all serve to get students excited about reading and sharing conversations with their peers about "book talk."

He described the school as "small but mighty," with lots of community support, and famous for the school motto: "KCS cares, watch us grow."

Shown in the photos below are (1) Jennifer Beaver and her son, Jax, kindergarten student, picking out a book; (2) Darla McInnis and her daughter, Scarlett, kindergarten student, enjoying the event; (3) Rick Hartley and his daughter MacKenzie, speak with kindergarten teacher Kim Ouellette as the Book and a Bagel event gets underway at Kingsclear Consolidated School.