Growing in Excitement: White Pine Celebration at All Saints Catholic Secondary School

On Tuesday, April 30, secondary students from across Durham Catholic District School Board (DCDSB) came together to critically buzz about books for the annual White Pine Celebration. Taking place in the All Saints Catholic Secondary School Learning Commons, the event was a student-facilitated celebration of books in the White Pine category of the Forest of Reading Program, organized by Teacher-Librarian Monica Dion and Program Support teacher Amanda Duncan. 

Students from the All Saints White Pine Book Club set up display tables of activities related to the book they were championing, followed by creative presentations in which members from each school team gave a synopsis and engaging assessment of their selected novel through spoken word, skits, rating scales and art displays. 

Superintendent Mike O’Neill closed the morning by offering words of encouragement about where the love of reading can and has taken DCDSB alumni. 

The celebration culminated in an afternoon virtual session with Zoulfa Katouh, author of As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow, one of the YA novels featured in the White Pine program this year. Katouh dialed in from Switzerland taking questions from students and discussing her author and environmental influences for characters and critical moments in the novel.