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Stadium Drive celebrates Right to Read Week
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Stadium Drive set up an “underwater” reading station outside of the school’s office, where students were welcomed to relax and read for a few minutes. Aya Mousa (left) and Nikitas Missos enjoyed their reading time as they kicked back in the pool.
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Neighbors | Sarah Foor .Boardman police officer Brian Cioni (left) and his police dog, Eros, were welcomed to Stadium Drive for a Feb. 8 story time where he read a book and answered questions from Heidi Peachock’s students.
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On Feb. 9, students and teachers were welcomed to dress as their favorite characters. Kindergarten teachers Candi Kominak (left) and Barb Gonda (right) dressed as Despereaux the mouse and Brutus the Buckeye, respectively, while reading specialist Lisa Cooper (center) dressed as Max from “Where the Wild Things Are.”
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Youngstown State basketball player Josh Chojnacki read a basketball-themed book called “Little T Learns to Share” to Lindsay Koch’s classroom on Feb. 8.
By SARAH FOOR
Students at Stadium Drive celebrated Right to Read Week with a reading and literacy extravaganza Feb. 7-11, including activities and story times that kept students and faculty alike excited about reading their favorite books.
Lisa Cooper, Stadium Drive’s reading specialist, took charge of planning the week for the first time this year.
“Our theme is ‘Adventures are unlimited when you read!’ and I wanted the kids to be reminded of that fact every moment of this week. To do that, we have about 20 community leaders coming to read stories, our halls are decorated with our theme head to toe, the kids are rewarded for reading, and more, if you can believe that.”
Cooper’s success was measured in the participation shown throughout the student body at Stadium Drive. Becky Endsley’s third-grade class tallied over 5,000 minutes of reading during free time.
Students were invited to dress up in themed costumes for each day of the week, and on Feb. 7, the favorite character theme had students dressing up as characters like Fancy Nancy, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Pinkalicious and Max from “Where the Wild Things Are.”
A wealth of the community leaders came to the event to read to classrooms and answer questions from the students.
Boardman police officer Brian Cionni visited with his police dog, Eros.
“Eros and I are always learning and reading, just like you guys,” Cionni shared with the students of Heidi Peachock’s class.
Lindsay Koch’s students received this thought from YSU basketball player Josh Chojnacki: “I had to read in college all the time. You definitely need to keep up on your studies and enjoy reading for college.”
Cooper said she hoped the readers showed the students that everyone reads, no matter their profession.
“I want this week to give the kids a deep love of reading,” Cooper reflected. “I want them to treasure books. I want reading to be inescapable and contagious in the best way.”