Books have a way of transporting you into a whole other world. They fill you with knowledge, growth, imagination, awareness, adventures and more. You never know what lies beyond the cover of book waiting for someone to take it off the shelf.
Over at our Junior High campus Karen Chouinard the campus librarian is instilling a love of reading into our 7th and 8th grade Hornets. She hosts a monthly reading challenge that encourages students to become a part of the reading community. In doing so they gain many skills such as higher test scores, vocabulary, critical thinking, cultural awareness, and more. Each month they have a chance to earn a different colored duck. Mrs. Chouinard said
”“They are trying to collect all the different ducks. This small incentive gets them into the library, and I've noticed that many of them continue to come for books throughout the month as they wait for the next challenge to start. The list of "regulars" in the library is growing as the school year progresses, which is wonderful!”
Reading books and collecting ducks is not all this Reading Challenge has to offer! There is also a social side as well. This October they are hosting a Masquerade party where all the participants for the Reading Challenge will get a chance to show off the masks they design based on their books and get to know the other readers. This creates a positive and encouraging environment that really nourishes the love of reading.
Her aspirations is for this to blossom and grow into a larger program. Where the whole community will be involved in doing monthly reading challenges. Mrs. Chouinard said, “My greatest hope for this program is that it sparks students’ love of reading and that it catches and grows into an ardent desire to be lifelong readers and learners.”
