Assembly feeds students’ need to read

In the March 22 Sadecky Puppet show at Dobbins Elementary, the “Need to Read” presentation followed the story of Spencer Grady, who can jump into story books and talk to the characters. During the presentation, Spencer (right) met the Scarecrow in “The Wizard of Oz.”

After the character of Spencer (left) jumps into the story “Charlotte’s Web,” he tries to give good advice to Wilbur the pig without changing the plot of the famous story.

After the March 22 show, a few lucky Dobbins students were invited to meet a famous Sadecky puppet up close.

The Dobbins students were very happy to meet the Spencer Grady puppet after the Sadecky puppet show. Smiling about their luck were, from left, Seth Kollar (front), Laurel Zarbaugh, William Blumel, Alyssa Rapp, Kendall Nigh, and Zachary Yaskulka (back), and Caroline Aey.
By SARAH FOOR
Every imaginative reader has hoped once or twice that they could jump into the world of their favorite book. Although not possible in our world, the characters of a Sadecky’s puppet show at Dobbins on March 22 explored that interesting possibility in a presentation called “Need to Read.”
Their show at Dobbins followed the story of Spencer Grady, a boy who doesn’t like to read until he finds out an important family secret — that, like his dad, he can physically enter books and interact with the characters.
Spencer runs into trouble when his interactions begin to change the stories of “The Wizard of Oz,” “Charlotte’s Web,” and “Tom Sawyer.” In the end, Spencer puts his skills to good use by showing off his book jumping for the good of his local library.
“Maybe you can’t get physically get into a book like I can,” Spencer said during the show, “but your imagination can help you go into books. All you have to do is come to your local library and pick up a book.”
Dobbins principal Cheryl Borovitcky hoped that the event ignited her students’ need to read.
“We have a wonderful library here in our school and a phenomenal community library right down the road. I hope you find your ‘need to read’ and feed your mind with great books,” she shared at the end of the show.
“This is the first time I’ve seen a show like this. The show was really funny and taught me a lot about reading,” student Alyssa Rapp shared about the assembly.
Student William Blumel said the event inspired him to read more with his family.
“I’ll show my need to read by reading even more to my brother and sister. They really like when I do that with them,” he said.