Print
E-Mail
tool name
closeChildren show parents, guests their reading progress at Reading Café event
Students at Maple Lawn Elementary read to adults during celebration of Read Across America
Roxanne Cooke
Maple Lawn Elementary turned into a Reading Café for an afternoon last week for Read Across America.
Parents, community members and city officials attended the event, in which students showed off their reading skills to adults and celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss.
“It’s just a huge family event,” said Sumner School District Communications Director Ann Cook.
Children send invitations to have guest readers come in and read. Many familiar faces filled the hallways and classrooms, including Councilman Leroy Goff, Police Chief John Galle and Assistant Superintendent Craig Spencer.
Most classrooms spent about a week selecting books to read and then practicing their reading skills. Many made a “menu” of books they wanted to read.
Every classroom had punch and cookies, and many students and teachers were wearing handmade Dr. Seuss hats. Even Principal Mike McCartin had a wacky red-and-white top hat.
Words of encouragement filled the air, and children looked excited to show off their reading skills to their parents and other grown-ups. Parents appeared just as happy.
“I think it lets parents know where their kids are at in terms of progress in reading,” said parent Liz Furiga, whose son Joey read a book about dogs to Spencer.
“And they get to show off,” Spencer added.
In another classroom, Daniel and Theresa Neary read “Socks” by Beverly Cleary with their fourth-grade son, Braedon.
“It’s good to see their reading progress,” Daniel Neary said.
The Maple Lawn PTA provided 450 books for the event, said Carla Miller, chair of the Reading Café event.
It’s good for the community to come in and see children progressing in reading, Miller said.
“It encourages reading,” she said.