Getting To Know Our Volunteers! Pt.2

This year, the library began an After School Cooking Club. This program would not be possible without our wonderful volunteer cooking instructor Sandra Richards.

What do you do at the library?

I am involved in three areas:

1. Monthly Book Club - first Tuesday every month.

2. Reading Buddy and Tutor - every Tuesday after school.

3. Cooking Club For Kids - Thursdays from 4:00 - 5:00 pm. We learn about cooking, baking, and measuring techniques and then create basic recipes that they could make at home. The students are delightful and enthusiastic!

Why do you volunteer at the library?

I have always enjoyed working with children and teenagers. I am a retired secondary school teacher and have enjoyed teaching Family Studies, Food, and Life Skills from grades 6-13.

During my last ten years of teaching grades 11 and 12 students, I taught them Hospitality and Tourism classes learning food, culinary, and chef skills in our trades program. I also ran the Breakfast Program.

What are 3 of your favourite books?

My three favourites seem to evolve and change every month at our Book Club! I have more than three favourites!

1. The Tattooist of Auschwitz written by Heather Morris

   Based on the true story of a young man working as a tattooist and survivor in a concentration camp during WWII.

2. The Three Sisters written by Heather Morris

   Based on the true story of three sisters who survived a concentration camp during WWII.

3. Dictionary of Lost Words written by Pip Williams

   A historical fiction book set in the early 1900s in the United Kingdom. Some characters are based on the actual people who produced the first Oxford English Dictionary.

What fictional character are you most like?

I relate to characters who face great adversity - ones who work hard and overcome. These books teach us to never give up. I like happy endings and reading historical fiction.

Some examples:

The Wild Robot directed by Chris Sanders

A children's story about a lost robot, Roz, who befriends some animals on a lost island.

Secrets Of The Ya-Ya Sisterhood written by Rebecca Wells

About mothers and daughters and the bonds of female friendship.

The Language of Flowers written by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

A foster home survivor working as a flower arranger discovers flowers have different meanings.