For Charlotte Mason and Angela Mills, supporting students starts long before they walk through a school door.

The two Portage Collegiate Institute resource teachers are the driving force behind the Portage Teachers’ Association’s (PTA) new newborn book initiative, a program that provides a free book to babies born in Portage la Prairie through a partnership with the Portage District General Hospital Foundation.

The initiative was launched this year as part of the Local’s ongoing efforts to connect with the community and promote education in meaningful ways.

“Every year we take on an initiative to help the community and promote teachers in our community,” said Mason, PTA’s public relations chair. “So, this year we were talking about some ideas of what we could do in the community to help promote teaching, and Angela came up with the idea, why don’t we do books for newborns?”

Through the PTA, 100 copies of Welcome Little One by Sandra Magsamen were purchased for the first year of the initiative. The colourful board book includes space for families to record important details such as a baby’s name and birth stats.

Mills, who serves as the PTA’s collective bargaining co-chair, said the program is about creating connections between families and schools from the very beginning.

“The hope is that parents connect with us early and are willing to come into the doors and talk to us often,” she said. “We want to be their partner, and we don’t want to criticize them at all, we want to be there to help them.”

Both teachers said the initiative reflects a shared commitment among teachers to support children and families throughout their educational journey.

“Portage teachers care about our students, and we care about our families,” Mason said. “We want to see them thrive. We want to see them right from newborn right to Grade 12 and graduating.”

The program is based on a belief that early literacy can have a lasting impact on student success.

“I believe that protecting and encouraging literacy in today’s world is more important than ever,” Mason said. “I think literacy is very important to protect and to encourage, so that students still see formal language, they still know how to read and write formal language.”

Mills emphasized the important role families play in a child’s development.

“Parents shape their child long before they ever reach the classroom,” she said. “Parents are the first teacher for children, and it’s so important for parents to read with their kids.”

Mason added that access to books from infancy helps children build foundational literacy skills before they begin school.

“Reading to children at a young age is crucial. It’s just setting them up to be much more successful, from kindergarten right through to Grade 12, and whatever they want to do beyond.”

The initiative has received support from healthcare partners, with nurses in the obstetrics unit helping present the books to new families.

For Mason, the program represents more than a literacy project. It is a reminder that schools and communities are strongest when they work together.

“I believe 100 per cent that it takes a village to raise a child,” she said. “And this is just part of that village.”