Sandra Williams (left) and Gord Barnett cut the ribbon on the Duwayne Barnett Story Sack Room. (Rob Mahon/paNOW Staff)

By Rob Mahon

Duwayne Barnett Dedication

Prince Albert Literacy Network honors longtime donor with new room

Aug 24, 2022 | 4:00 PM

Getting kids into reading is a big part of the work the Prince Albert Literacy Network does. At a ceremony at their Gateway Mall headquarters, they revealed a room dedicated to just that.

Today, the Literacy Network honored long-time donor Gord Barnett with the unveiling of the Duwayne Barnett Story Sack Room. Gord Barnett has been donating for 19 years in memory of Duwayne, his late wife, who was a teacher and extremely passionate about literacy in children.

“I was shocked but incredibly honored that they considered it,” Barnett said. “They have many other donors, I’m one of many. What they wanted to do with it really struck home, because it fell exactly into what my wife’s belief was, how to make literacy interesting to children and something they want to do not something they have to do.”

Barnett himself cut the ribbon to the room, which holds 79 of these story sacks. Story sacks contain books for kids but also props and items related to the book to help keep the child interested for more than the short time it takes to read the book.

“It far exceeds even my imagination and what I thought they were going to do,” said Barnett. “I knew about the books and there was going to be this room, but this whole idea of the activities that go along with the books in the sacks, it’s amazing. They’ve made literacy fun. What children will realize is that reading is more than just reading words on a page.”

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As an example of the story sacks, the Literacy Network brought out the sack for “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” which contained not only the story but a caterpillar prop and food that the kids could then “feed” to the caterpillar. The collection of story sacks is, they believe, the largest in Saskatchewan, and made possible in part thanks to donors like Barnett.

“We asked his permission before we did it, we talked about it as a board and got Gord on board,” said Sandra Williams, vice chair of the Prince Albert Literacy Network. “He was extremely touched and emotional that we would consider to name the story sack room after Duwayne. It was a win-win for everyone.”

Duwayne Barnett was remembered as someone who cared very deeply about literacy in kids and who was always working on ways to make it fun for them. As such, Gord thought his late wife would’ve been thrilled by the room that now bears her name.

“She probably would’ve been embarrassed with the attention, but she would’ve loved that room,” Barnett said. “It was sort of something she even did while she was teaching. Her rooms were always made up to make it interesting. There were always lots of books but there were big stuffed teddy bears and critters and that sort of thing.”

Barnett added his family’s support of the Literacy Network would continue.

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rob.mahon@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @RobMahonPxP