Start2Finish Donates Book Vending Machine to St. Nicholas
Christmas came two weeks early for students at St. Nicholas Catholic Elementary School in St. Catharines.
St. Nick arrived at St. Nicholas on December 10 in the form of retired CFL player turned social engineer Brian Warren. He’s the founder of Start2Finish, an organization aimed at using education to encourage students from disadvantaged backgrounds to dream big.
Instead of a sack full of toys, Warren’s delivery came in advance – a big orange “vending” machine, and 2,000 books that will eventually make their way home with students over the course of the year.
It operates much like any vending machine you’ve seen: Put in your coin, choose the letter/number of the item you want, and wait for it to fall into the tray. Except instead of it being a treat to fuel the body, the goodie is a book to fuel the brain. And the coins are tokens, provided by teachers and/or principal Jackie Watson, meaning books are free to students.
St. Nicholas is the first school to have the Indigenous Literacy Project book machine in the building. In fact, it’s one of fewer than 20 across Canada. The goal of the project is to close the gap in literacy that widened during the pandemic and to foster a love of books and reading in children.
The St. Nicholas project was spearheaded at Niagara Catholic through Danielle Black, the board’s Coordinator of Library Information Services. Black is passionate about reading and literacy, and about bringing culturally relevant books to students.
“It is so important that all people – students and adults – see themselves in the books they read,” said Black. “Making that connection with a character that looks like you or has a similar background to your own is crucial for youngsters as they find a place for themselves in the world. By seeing themselves as characters, and by relating to their experiences, they develop a love of reading and stories.”
It's an experience Warren can understand.
His dream is to give students enough books to create libraries at home, so they ignite a love of reading by seeing themselves in the books they choose. It’s also to strengthen families by encouraging reading, and, in some cases, learning together.
The vending machine has copies of more than 20 titles pre-loaded for students to choose, provided in partnership with Niagara Community Foundation, Future Generations Foundation, First Book Canada, and several Canadian publishers. They range from beautiful hardcover storybooks to chapter books and graphic novels; most written by Black or Indigenous authors or have BIPOC (Black, Indigenous of People of Colour) central characters, so students can see themselves in the books they read.
Growing up solidly middle class in Phoenix, Arizona, the son of a NASA employee and a stay-at-home mother who turned to teaching as her children went to school, Warren didn’t experience how it feels to be socially disadvantaged. But as a Black Indigenous person, he knows firsthand how it feels to be othered, and to never see himself in the books he read.
“These books are a window, and a mirror,” Warren said in a hallway jam-packed with students, visitors, and the big orange machine. “They’re windows out into the community to say anything is possible but it’s also a mirror, and I can see myself reflected in culture.”
Through donations from the Niagara Community Foundation and other sponsors, St. Nicholas students will take home 2,000 books a year over the next three years – a significant financial commitment, given that most books cost between $20 and $25.
St. Nicholas principal Jackie Watson said she’s grateful for the support of Start2Finish and the board to bring this to the school.
“On behalf of my school community, thank you to Start2Finish and the Niagara Community Foundation for the financial support,” she said. “And thank you to (Director of Education) Camillo Cipriano, Superintendents of Education Kim Kinney and Pat Rocca and our Indigenous education team led by Gary Parker for their support of this. With so many of these books featuring BIPOC writers or characters, our students will develop greater understanding and a broader world view, creating, we hope, a generation inspired to be the change they want to see in the world.”
Director Cipriano said he is also grateful for the donation to students and reminded them that reading can take them anywhere and lead them to be whatever they want to be.
“You are the future leaders, right here in this room,” he said.
For Warren, that’s what the Indigenous Literacy Project is all about: Ensuring Indigenous and racialized children, and children from disadvantaged communities know – and feel – that they are valued and can be anything they want to be.
“It’s changing the narrative.”