Bloomsdale Elementary, Ste. Genevieve Elementary and the Early Childhood Center celebrated Read-On Missouri Week from March 2 - 6. This week is part of the Read Across America program, which is sponsored by the National Education Association and celebrates reading and encourages students to develop lifelong reading habits!
Throughout the week, students had the opportunity to participate in various activities that promote the message that reading provides countless opportunities to learn and grow. The schools hosted guest readers and held bookmark contests and dress-up days among other fun activities, to celebrate the week.
MNEA officers, MNEA-Retired teachers, Board of Education members, administrators, Rep. Bryant Wolfin, community members and family members all made plans to read to students. Our guest readers shared some of their favorite children’s books to the students, and of course, there were three guests that all of the students knew right from the start—the Cat in the Hat, and Thing 1 and Thing 2!
Each year, SGNEA and NHS has a tradition of sponsoring Cat in the Hat visits to both elementary schools—this year, Chloe Wehner dressed up as the Cat for SGE and the ECC, and Briana Pfaff dressed up as the Cat for BLE. Cecilia Mooney and Sophie Garcia were Thing 1 and Thing 2 for SGE and the ECC, and Abbie Woodard and Vivian Kiefer were Thing 1 and Thing 2 for BLE. NHS members volunteer their time, while SGNEA sponsors the Cat in the Hat suits while NHS provides the Thing suits.
New this year at Ste. Genevieve Elementary was a “Masked Reader” activity. Guest readers disguised themselves and recorded videos reading all or part of a book. The videos were shared with classes throughout the week, challenging students to guess who the reader might be. The mystery was revealed on Friday when students learned the identities of the readers behind each video!
At each school, students and staff celebrated the joy of reading with themed dress-up days.At Bloomsdale Elementary, students cozied up with a good book in pajamas, dressed for vacation to show how books can take readers to new places, wore animal or safari-themed outfits to reflect wild stories, brightened the halls in neon colors, and showed they were “hungry for books” with food-themed clothing or restaurant shirts. At Ste. Genevieve Elementary, students explored literary genres by dressing as historical figures for Biography Day as part of Read On Missouri, characters from graphic novels and comics, wacky outfits for Humor Day, fantasy characters such as witches and wizards, and pajamas for Bedtime Stories Day.
Again this year, both elementary schools held a bookmark contest! At BLE, bookmarks were drawn by students in grades 2nd - 5th, and a winner from each grade level was selected based on their theme choice, composition, and craftsmanship. At SGE, all 5th grade students designed a bookmark related to Dr. Seuss, or any of their favorite literary characters, and the winner was Madalynn Portwood!
From cafeteria meals centered around a Dr. Seuss theme, to photo booths, door decorating and book raffles, the week was full of literary activities. BLE held a book raffle with 100 books to give away throughout the week! Every day of the week, a name was drawn from each class, and during morning announcements, one student from each classroom was called to select a free book! SGE hosted a door decorating contest, where the winning class won a prize for their ‘reading-themed’ door! Each morning, SGE students received daily prizes for guessing the correct book title of a passage read during morning announcements. SGE also gave out approximately 350 prizes to students throughout the week. In each classroom, a name was randomly drawn to receive a Dr. Seuss-themed prize.
We would like to thank all of our guest readers who took the time to engage and share their love of books with our students! Your visits helped us spread the joy of reading. The students would also like to thank the Read-On Missouri committees, as well as all of the teachers, staff, cafeteria workers and all others who make this week a success every year!