By Pete Wurdock
The entire K-6 student body gathered for an assembly on March 3 when the “One School, One Book” initiative was announced at Tahquamenon Area Schools.
Each student receives a free copy of the same book – this year it’s The World According to Humphrey by Betty G. Birney. They can read on their own and at home with their family. At school, students explore the book with classmates. The concept reinforces reading instruction, increases parental involvement, bridges the home-school connection, and helps build a true community of readers.
Humphrey, a lovable and adventurous classroom hamster, teaches readers that they can learn a lot about life by observing another species. He watches this unfold at the school and shares these experiences with the janitor, who converses with him daily. There are always adventures in the classroom and each weekend he gets to sleep over with different students.
The reading program is spearheaded by TAS K-6 Reading Interventionist Sarah Bongard with assistance from a team of TAS teachers.
“A fun skit we put together featured Athletic Director, Anthony Kitzman, who imitated a character in the book [the janitor] who talks with Humphrey at the end of each school day while cleaning the classroom,” Bongard said.
Last month, students searched for clues throughout the school to sleuth out this year’s book. Clues were found on bulletin boards and hints were included during the daily announcements.
The committee hopes students will learn that the characters in the stories are often just like them.
The “Principal’s Challenge” is a highlight of the initiative. If all students meet their weekly reading goals, the Principal Kendra Feldhusen will have to do something crazy.
“Each teacher sets a reading goal for their classroom and they keep reading logs to measure their success. Right now, the classes are coming up with ideas of what crazy activity they will want the principal to do to celebrate the success for the month. If we meet our reading goals, the principal chooses one of the suggested ideas which will be revealed at the final assembly,” Bongard explained.
Last year Principal Feldhusen was covered in paint. Who knows what might happen this year!
To round out Reading Month, a Community Literacy Night will take place from 6-7 p.m. on March 18 in the school cafeteria. The event is open to the public and will be full of activities based around the book.
The conclusion of reading month is March 20, with the much-celebrated trivia night in the gym. That’s when the principal’s challenge, if terms reading goals were met, will be announced.
