Friday, June 22, 2018
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Market Street, Robinwood Lane and Stadium Drive elementary schools all had assemblies from The Energize Guyz, a show by the National Children's Theatre and sponsored by FirstEnergy. The show demonstrated ways to conserve resources and electricity. The students read "When Charlie McButton Lost Power" ahead of the assembly. The story also focuses on electricity.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Boardman elementary schools had their annual Right to Read Week, which included assemblies, guest readers and rewards for reading. West Boulevard Elementary invited children's author Diana Perry to the school for her presentation that married science and reading. Pictured, Perry demonstrated static electricity on a student.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.Each of the four elementary schools had their own special guests for the Right to Read Week. The week also included special theme days where the children dressed up. The schools wanted to reward and encourage the students for reading inside and outside of school. Pictured, Robinwood Lane Elementary invited Pawz for People to their school. Ryan Piper, Gionna Sheppard and Adelynne Ganser pet Peg Will's dog, Max.
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Neighbors | Submitted.The elementary schools invited guest readers to their school during Right to Read Week. These guests included board members and central office members with the district. Stadium Drive Elementary brought in over 20 guests, which included drag racer Ryan Martino, policemen and firemen. Pictured, Youngstown fireman George Zordich read to students at Stadium Drive Elementary.
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Neighbors | Zack Shively.All four elementary schools rewarded the students for reading during the Right to Read Week. Stadium Drive Elementary had a reading log, with prizes going to those who read the most. These prizes were both for individuals and classrooms, with prizes such as a classroom pizza party, an extra recess and four tickets to the Youngstown Phantoms championship game. Pictured, Lauryn Swantek, TJ Morton, Maddie Whyde and Eddie Stachowiz met with Boomer, the Phantoms mascot.
By ZACK SHIVELY
The four Boardman elementary schools participated in their annual Right to Read week from May 7-11.
West Boulevard, Robinwood Lane, Market Street and Stadium Drive elementary schools celebrated the week with guest readers and special presentations. Each of the schools rewarded students for reading throughout the week. All schools used the theme of “Super Readers are Electrifying.”
“It’s to get the kids excited about reading,” said West Boulevard Elementary’s reading center instructor Lisa Rucci. She wanted to let the children know that they can visit different world in their reading.
West Boulevard had a special assembly from children’s author Diana Perry. Perry’s presentation focused on the science of weather pattern, based around her book “The Weather by Heather.” Rucci appreciated bringing in Perry because it tied in well with the theme and made a connection between reading and science.
The other three schools had assemblies from The Energize Guyz, a show put on by The National Theatre for Children and sponsored by FirstEnergy. The show featured superhero Nikki Neutron learning about energy efficiency and convincing the villain of the show, the Sneaker, to be responsible about resources and electricity.
“We want children to learn about resources and to care about conservation now and through the future,” said Elisha Bryant, who took on the role of Nikki Neutron at Market Street Elementary and performed alongside Kali McMillian. The schools had the students read “When Charlie McButton Lost Power,” by Suzanne Collins and Mike Lester, a story about electricity, before the assembly.
Robinwood Lane had their other special guests, Pawz for People. The organization brought in puppies for the children to pet. They also had guest readers from the school board and central office read to the students during the week.
“We are hoping to promote a love of reading and to spark interest in reluctant readers,” said Robinwood Lane’s reading center instructor Jaime Malish. The school also had its Read-a-Thon event during the week, which rewarded students for reading while raising money for the school.
Each of the schools had different themes for each day, with slight variation. All four schools had the students dress up as superheroes on Monday to start the week and a “Be a Real Character!” theme the following day, where students took the appearance of a storybook character. Each school also had a blackout day where they wore black and brought flashlights to school to read in the dark.
Stadium Drive Elementary had a day where the students wore neon colors and another day where they dressed as wizards. West Boulevard Elementary had an 80s theme day. Market Street Elementary had a day where the students wore their hair like they had been electrified.
“We want to promote reading inside and outside of school,” said Market Street Elementary’s reading center teacher Julie Kamenitsa. She said the school also wants to get children more interested in reading daily.
Stadium Drive Elementary had numerous events for the week. As with West Boulevard Elementary, the school had reading stations set up in the school for teachers to take their students to read during the day. These stations had superhero decorations, such as a bat cave.
Lisa Cooper, Stadium Drive Elementary’s reading center instructor, organized the school’s activities. She felt that the week was important because literacy is needed in all fields, from athletics to emergency services to lawyers.
Each day, the school began with “brainy book clues,” where principal Michael Zoccali read an excerpt from a children’s story on the loud speaker and the students answered what book Zoccali read the passage from. The students entered a raffle if they got the answer correct. The winner of the raffle received a free book.
During the day, the students visited the reading stations. They also got rewarded for getting “caught reading,” or reading in spare time, such as recess. Cooper also invited more than 20 guest readers to the school, including representatives from the Butler Art Museum, police department, fire department and people dressed as superheroes.
The students marked their time reading after school in a reading log. The students who met the goal of 15 minutes per day entered a raffle where they could win prizes. Each class that met the total for all students received a free recess at the end of the week.
The classes in each grade with the most amount of reading minutes received a pizza party. The student who read the most overall received four free tickets to the Clark Cup Final between the Youngstown Phantoms and the Fargo Force.
The Right to Read Week happens every year with a different theme each time. The schools always have a dress up theme and guest readers throughout the week.