Richland Rebels observe National Young Reader's Week

It was fun with a purpose recently as books, food, and camping gear filled the halls and classrooms of Richland Elementary during National Young Reader's Week. Teachers, administrators, staff, and students worked hard preparing for the week-long event; which included free reading time, a "read and feed", guest readers, a "campout", plays, games, and other fun reading-based activities.

The idea of National Young Reader's Week was conceptualized in 1985 when the son of the Pizza Hut Company president was having difficulty reading.The boy's father encouraged him to read a certain number of books and would set weekly reading goals for his son. When a goal was met, he would reward him with his favorite food; which was, of course, pizza!

From that experience, the Book-It program was born. In the Book-It program, a student's teacher sets a monthly reading goal for each student in the classroom. Once a child has reached his or her goal, they receive a certificate for a free Personal Pan Pizza from Pizza Hut. Today, the program reaches about14 million students in 38,000 elementary schools annually across the nation and runs every school year from October through March. Locally, Dexter Pizza Hut Manager Natalie Metcalf says that from 100 to 150 students bring their certificates in to receive their free pizza each week during the five month period. That is over 2,000 pizzas annually from the Dexter restaurant alone. Metcalf also says they have added a "Book-It Yearbook" for the 2013-2014 program. "Students can come in and sign the yearbook showing their accomplishment," said Metcalf. The Book-It program was conducted by Pizza Hut for four years before partnering with the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress, and in 1989, they introduced National Young Reader's Week to schools across the country. The idea is to help children read because they want to instead of reading because they have to, and the Richland staff couldn't agree more.

Photos courtesy of Kyle Carter/Richland HS and his student staff Richland students above, Mackinzie Maddox and Shamya Dobbins, read by flashlight during a classroom "campout" -- one of many reading incentives that took place at Richland Schools during National Young Reader's Week last week.

"Reading is the foundation of learning," said Lori Anderson, who teaches 5th and 6th grade English Language Arts and Social Studies at Richland. "The better and more willing a student is to read, the better their chances of success in all areas of academics." The teachers and staff at Richland worked hard to produce a "reading atmosphere" that is educational and fun for the students.

"As educators, I believe it is our responsibility to help create life-long learners," said Richland Elementary Principal Cara Merritt. "Life-long learners eagerly seek new knowledge and understand the importance of education. Good readers become good learners. Creating a fun atmosphere while practicing reading, encourages students to read on their own."

"I often tell the kids that reading is a skill like shooting a basketball, throwing a baseball, or even playing a video game," said Merritt. "If you continue to practice, chances are you will get better." And there was plenty of practicing going on at Richland.

The reading week began with everyone getting into the reading mode with a "free read". Students were encouraged to select a book of their choice and were then allowed time to get comfortable and read by themselves.

"The students enjoyed being able to sit on their pillows and blankets and read anywhere in the room," said fourth grade teacher Kathy Roberts. It was a great way to lead the students into the fun week that awaited them. On Tuesday, teachers led an ever-popular "Read and Feed"; which is much like the "free read" with an added element...FOOD! Students were able to curl up with a good book, a bowl of popcorn, and a soda. Wednesday was "Round Up a Good Book Day". Students dressed in their favorite Western attire and guest readers were invited to read to the students in the classrooms. These "VIP" readers included teachers, moms, grandmas, and even Jo Jo the Clown, who visited Lindy Parker's kindergarten classroom to read and perform a few magic tricks.The highlight of the week seemed to be the "campout" on Thursday. Tents were set up in a designated area of the school. Each tent contained a fake campfire, lanterns, decorative camping lights, lawn chairs, and flashlights. Artificial trees and real leaves were scattered throughout the area and nature sounds were even played in the background, creating a life-like forest atmosphere. S'mores were also given out to each student. The week wrapped up on Friday with the students in grades 3-6 performing plays based on some of the students' favorite stories and reading to the younger students. In addition to all of these fun reading activities, the High School Library Club members read aloud to each class and excerpts from well-known books were read over the intercom at random times throughout the week. For this activity, the students were asked to guess from which book the excerpt derived. The class with the greatest number of correct answers received a prize.The week was deemed a complete success by the Richland staff.

"It was very rewarding seeing the students respond the way they did," said Anderson. "Some of the students in my class were even reading during recess and lunch...very rewarding."

"This week was very successful," added Merritt. "I overheard kids in the hallway talking about books, students were asking me about books, and we even had some students ask their parents to bring some of their own personal favorites to school."

When asked about the success of the week, Title 1 Reading Coach Karen Brown said, "Working with the teachers on a project such as this is exciting to me. The teachers really got excited and worked hard putting it together. Then, to see the kids get so excited and so involved with reading makes it all worthwhile. We are already thinking of ideas for next year."