Dear families of students in Grades 4 and 5,

The Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Awards (MYRCA) Club at École St. Germain is starting once again! Students had an opportunity to explore the books nominated this year and learn about the MYRCA Club. Even if students choose not to participate in the club, they can still read the books and vote in April if they have read (or listened to) a minimum of 3 of the nominated books.

Below, you will find additional information about MYRCA. Please read if your child is participating in MYRCA.

We look forward to an amazing year of reading! Thanks again for your support,

Linette Touchette (linette.peldatouchette@lrsd.net)

Teacher-Librarian

 Materials Needed:

Each student participating in the MYRCA Club will need:

• a clean, label-free, small-to-medium-sized glass jar with a lid (such as a jar that used to contain jam or spaghetti sauce)
• a flat rock (about the size of their palm)

These items can be sent to school with your child, and they will be stored in the library office until it is time to do the activity. If you have extra jars or rocks to donate, you can send them as well. We will share them with students who may not yet have these items when it is time to do the activities.

What is MYRCA?

In 1990, the Manitoba School Library Association decided to mark the International Year of Literacy by developing a literacy initiative that would have a positive and lasting impact on a vulnerable segment of the reading population, children in grades 4 through 8. The Manitoba Young Readers’ Choice Award (MYRCA) was born.

There are 10 books in the Sundogs Collection for students in Grades 4, 5 and 6. The attached “2025 MYRCA Sundogs Pamphlet” includes the list of this year’s book titles, authors and descriptions. Students must read or have heard read a minimum of 3 of the titles by mid-April 2025 to be eligible to vote for their favourite MYRCA book. For more information about MYRCA, please see www.myrca.ca.

About the MYRCA Club:

The goal of the MYRCA Club is to promote reading and student voice and will operate like a book club where students can share opinions on what they have been reading, make suggestions to peers and participate in a variety of book-related activities. The school has purchased 4-5 copies of each book in the Sundogs Collection to help circulate books to students interested in the MYRCA program.  

Given the large number of students participating in MYRCA, each activity will be repeated over several recesses. Students may be assigned a recess (based on their classes), or will be asked to sign up in the library to attend one of those sessions and should select a date that does not interfere with their other lunch commitments.

How you can help:

Getting MYRCA books into the hands of the students is a continuous challenge, even with our extra copies. Please encourage your child to read and return MYRCA books in a timely manner (about 2 weeks or as soon as it is completed). Although titles were selected by the MYRCA Committee to represent a variety of genres and topics, not all titles will resonate with every reader. Talk with your child about what they are currently reading and allow time to answer their questions and discuss the themes or topics presented in the books. If your child is not enjoying a book, it can be returned to the library early so that it can be passed on to the next student waiting.

In addition, you can help your child access books from the Winnipeg Public Library. Many of the books are also available as e-books and some as audiobooks, through either the Winnipeg Public Library or the LRSD Digital Library (please see attached “MYRCA 2024 availability” document). Students will need their LRSD login information to access the LRSD Digital Library. This is the username and password they use in class to log-in to the computers and is available from their classroom teacher. You are also invited to read aloud a MYRCA book with your child, as listening to MYRCA books counts towards the number of books read.

Please reach out to me if you have questions or anything you’d like to discuss about your child’s participation in the MYRCA Club this year.

Thank you, 

Linette

Teacher-Librarian