Andrews – Andrews Elementary School celebrated all things literary and bookish with its own Camp Read-A-Lot after-school event on March 7 to coincide with Read Across America.
To cap off the week-long national event, which included various volunteer readers bringing books to each grade and several classes, planning began last month and born from a staff meeting along with Student Council involvement. Each grade selected what event or activity they would like to present for the outdoor themed afternoon, according to camp leaders Heather Carver, Sam Cross and Hailey Rogers.
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Principal Kim Smith said she was especially “impressed with how the kids and teachers, along with help from parents and the community, all came together to make this a reality. The theme just took off based upon our natural surroundings.”
Upon entering, each student was given their own camp tote to fill with goodies, which also included a water bottle for hiking hydration, a flashlight for spending time outdoors while either hunting bears or being “in the dark” and a map that guided campers and parents throughout the campground.
Also included was a Campsite Checklist, which served as a kind of passport students could get stamped in order to win various prizes for completing or participating in every campsite task.
Starting in the gymnasium and winding throughout the corridors, various rooms were cordoned off as different “campsites.” Handmade signs designated the paths through the halls decorated with cardboard trees and faux rocks, mimicking the true hiking experience.
Decorations included toy and actual tents, canoes, fire pits with logs and a stunning full moon mural painted years ago as a gift.
Included in the various camp festivities were a “bear hunt,” a “fishing” for sight words “pond,” private tents for parent-child read-a-longs, a build-your-own trail mix station, a sensory sand writing station, board games, a camp bingo card with all the things you’d see or experience while camping and the most anticipated by all, a s’mores station at the exit to end the out-of-doors experience on a sweet note.
All activities were free, along with a “free book room,” where students were encouraged to take as many age- and grade-appropriate books as they wanted to fill their swag bags.
The Scholastic Book Fair was also in appearance with throwback items for all the parents and kids such as journals, gel pens, stickers and books and posters.
Scholastic offers opportunities to schools to host book fairs which also work to grant perks and rewards to these schools, according to camp leader and student support staff Sam Cross and the scholastic website.
Both Amy Sneed and Stacey Jewell said they were experiencing some serious “grammar school read-a-thon book fair flashbacks” while perusing the many items for sale.
That nostalgia was also echoed by many of the teachers, including Melinda Woods, whose fourth-grade class put on a poetry reading.
“I’ve basically been here a month, so I was excited to see this happen and to get the class involved. We read the poem ‘The Red Wheelbarrow’ by William Carlos Williams, and each student wrote their own poem riffing off the first line ‘So much depends.’ They were so proud of their poems and anxious to read them,” she said.
Another performance was put on by fifth-grade Student Council members. “They conceived, wrote, produced and choreographed this original skit themselves,” Smith said. “Their initiative was unparalleled.”
The skit, entitled “Don’t Be A Bully,” served as a sort of morality tale based upon a new student’s experience trying to fit in with a seasoned student body.
Vignettes included how a new student tried to find a seat in class only to be rudely routed out of her choice.
Smith was also involved in the skit as the offstage “Teacher’s Voice,” and she said she was proud to be included in the tale which served to rewind those bullying experiences into a conflict-management negotiation style situation.
Consensus at the s’mores station in between bites was the success of this event.
“Oh, we’re already thinking about how we can make something even better next year,” Carver said.
Read Across America, sponsored by the National Education Association, started in 1998 as a way to coincide with the National Reading Month of March to promote the importance of literacy in America.
While events can go on throughout the month, most occur from March 2 for week-long celebrations.