Over 4,000 copies of a new children's book highlighting the local workforce will be distributed to local students.
Hashtag Charitable Executive Director Rich Bouchard said they partnered with Noelle's Gift To Children to create the fundraising book, called Smash Hits!
"The book follows a student throughout the community and they learn about all of the different occupations or jobs you can have in the community," said Bouchard. "Each of the pages had a different business or organization featured, which were a sponsor, and what they're doing is talking about the different roles or jobs they can have within that company."
The book features 30 different organizations.
"From Lambton College, Shell, we had a number of different doctors [including] Dr. Taylor and Dr. March," he said. "We also had folks from local not-for-profits like Big Brothers, Big Sisters and the Inn of the Good Shepherd."
Bouchard said Junior Kindergarten, Senior Kindergarten and Grade One students within the Lambton Kent Public and St. Clair Catholic School Boards will receive free copies.
A small amount of copies were also going to be available at The Book Keeper bookstore for $15 each.
Bouchard said the book continues Noelle Paquette's legacy.
"It was just a perfect fit, obviously, since she was a teacher," he said. "She makes an appearance in the book, including the cover."
Noelle’s Gift To Children was established in 2013 in memory of Paquette, a St. Clair Catholic District School Board kindergarten teacher.
"The title, Smash Hits!, was a saying that Noelle used with her students. She wanted them to grow up to be 'Smash Hits!' So, it was a natural choice for the name of the book," said Bouchard.
