School District 5 teachers and officials are reacting with enthusiasm to some unsolicited praise from newly minted Education Minister George Abbott.

Abbott, who became minister as a result of Premier Gordon Campbell's cabinet shuffle Monday, says School District 5 is one of only four districts in the province where Grade 4 students are reading at the expected level for the grade.

"It revolves around extra attention, extra focus for students on areas that require mediation," said the former Minister of Aboriginal Relations in a CBC interview.

District 5 Superintendent Bill Gook was pleased with Abbott's remarks. "I think it's the hard work of teachers focused in on the appropriate instructional strategies to ensure that students are reading."

In the elementary grades in District 5, students are given lots of opportunities to read "not only for facts but for enjoyment," Gook said. "You look around and we have reading clubs and every teacher at the elementary level are teachers of reading."

If the District's success could be summed up in one sentence, "it's a real team effort," said Gook. "It's the classroom teacher, it's the principal and vice-principal, it's the parents, it's the One-to-One Reading Program. There's a huge focus on reading in all our schools and they make it a priority. It has to be."

District 5 Board of Education Chairman Frank Lento was also pleased to hear the words of praise from the minister. "Hearing this is not a complete shock to me. It's good news and it's a tribute and testimony to the kind of staff we have in our schools."

Lento also pointed out that the high Grade 4 reading standard in District 5 was a team effort. "Those results, even though they occur at the Grade 4 level, are really the results of all the primary teachers. I think it's great news and great for all our teachers and their morale."

Glen Gill, a Grade 4 teacher at Pinewood Elementary, said District 5 students are encouraged to read as soon as they can which accounts for their proficiency by Grade 4.

"I think a lot of it has to do with diagnosing at an early stage the kids that are struggling and then giving them as much support as we can and building their skills up to grade level standard."

Gill said Grade 4 students like to read novels tailored for their level as well as the normal books you'd expect them to be reading at that age. "Having a library full of good books helps. Reading to kids a lot is another important factor and encouraging them to read at home. Kids don't learn to read without a lot of home support as well. That's really key.

In recent years, District 5 has made a concerted effort to improve students' reading skills, Gill said. "Over the last couple of years we've focused on developing reading and vocabulary skills. We've also focused on numeracy skills and it's an ongoing cycle because the numeracy skills and the literacy skills are necessary for success in life."

Terry Molnar, principal at Kootenay Orchards for three years, said the District has also made good use of reading specialists and reading workshops to build up the reading skills of students and the teaching skills of teachers.

"It really helps when you have good people who are good at what they do," he said. Molnar also praised the District's Sound Connections Program for providing students with a sound basis for developing reading skills in kindergarten and Grade 1.

Molnar said the District made a real effort to have Grade 3 students reading at a Grade 3 level by the end of the school y6ear and this helped pave the way for the strong showing of the Grade 4's mentioned by Minister Abbott.

Abbott said only four districts in the province had Grade 4's reading at the expected Grade 4 level. In addition to Southeast Kootenay School District 5, they were Arrow Lakes. Revelstoke and Fort Nelson.

BC Teachers Federation President Susan Lambert said the districts mentioned by the minister were all small and the results may not be representative of the province as a whole.

Funding restrictions have forced some districts to lay off teaching assistants, Lambert said. However she did praise Abbott for being the first newly-appointed Education Minister in years to contact the BCTF after being appointed to talk about education issues.