We wish to acknowledge and sincerely thank Montcrest School, its teachers, students and staff for their partnership and unwavering support of the Foundation's mission, their collaboration in developing Katie's Corner, and for being a model of what schools may accomplish.

Montcrest School is an independent JK to Grade 8 school in the heart of Toronto. It is situated on the traditional territories of the Wendat, Anishinabeg, Chippewa, Haudenosaunee Confederacy and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. Montcrest teachers challenge students to discover and value their unique voices and perspectives, to understand how they fit into the world around them, and to be confident to move on from Montcrest with an awareness of what it means to be part of a global community. One of their Learning Principles is The EQUITY Principle, which states:

We believe that different identities are a source of strength and creativity in a diverse and inclusive community. We are committed to anti-oppression and to dismantling inequitable systems.

With this Principle in mind, it was a natural fit for Montcrest to collaborate with The Katie Macdonald Foundation for a Better World on this project. During the 2023/24 school year, a group of interested Grade 6 students joined a club called Katie’s Corner with the aim to work with The Katie Macdonald Foundation for a Better World to create a curated collection of books and a book discussion guide. To achieve this aim, students worked collaboratively with their Montcrest mentor, the Foundation and Another Story Bookshop. They created criteria to evaluate the books and set to work reading as many books as they could. The group then curated the guide as a way to support teachers and students to engage with the books in ways that would promote critical thinking, empathy and a deeper understanding of the world around them. We believe literature has the power to help us consider justice, solidarity, and action. We are proud of the way Montcrest students demonstrated their capacity to be Contributing Citizens:

A Montcrest learner contributes to sustainable and equitable systems through active and humble participation within our local and global community.

We would like to thank Another Story Bookshop and its Education group for their help in sourcing and distributing books that meet Katie's Corner's criteria and acknowledge their long standing mission which aligns so well with the Foundation's goals.

More about Another Story Education and Another Story Bookshop