Jefferson School PTA Reading Program Kicks-Off with Assembly
The annual PTA Parents as Reading Partners program kicked off at Jefferson Primary School with a fun school-wide assembly. Parents and students are encouraged to spend 15 minutes each day reading together throughout the three-week long initiative and, hopefully, far into the future.
Organizers hope the daily experience will lead to the development of a lifetime love for reading in youngsters. This year’s PARP theme, “Thrills and Chills . . . Reading is Cool!” hit the right note at Jefferson. The special assembly drove home the point.
PARP is a statewide PTA program that promotes reading at home. Since parents, grandparents and guardians are role models, children are more likely to respond positively if these individuals are reading alongside them, reinforcing its importance as an activity.
The program’s kick-off featured Christopher Agostino’s Transformation! show: “Heads & Tales – Face Painting and Storytelling.” The program brought to life numerous stories, including traditional folktales and original works. The stories were all illustrated by audience volunteers having their faces painted to tie the words into the cultures they described.
Jefferson staff members said students enjoyed being so involved in the stories and seeing classmates have their faces transformed right before their eyes. Within a couple of minutes, the faces of students who volunteered resembled works of art.
The tall tales told during the assembly and the colorful faces produced, played right into the exciting nature of reading and how it holds open a whole new world for students to discover and explore.
At Jefferson, participating in PARP is as easy as signing and returning the program contract provided to each student. Every Friday students are asked to place a sticker on their mitten on the PARP bulletin located in each classroom. This indicates their reading for the week has been completed.
Each week participating Jefferson readers are also entered into a special drawing. The winner from each class has an opportunity to spend time reading with Principal Margaret H. Evers during a portion of their lunch period. As a visual aid, the more students read, the closer a gondola gets to the top of a “mountain” erected in the school lobby.
Jefferson’s PARP program will also include a polar bear book swap, Wednesday morning mystery readers and a search for Pete the Polar Bear (a white furry stuffed animal) who is hiding somewhere in the building. The program’s grand finale is set for the Barnes & Noble store on Rte. 110 on Thursday, February 14.
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