Kiser Elementary welcomes local leaders for Read Across America
At the beginning of March, schools across the country celebrate Read Across America week.
This year, a Gaston County Elementary School started what they hope will become a new tradition to celebrate the occasion.
On Tuesday March 5, Kiser elementary school students participated in a costume contest and welcomed Stanley City Manager Heath Jenkins, Mayor Steven Denton, Stanley Middle School Principal Rebecca Huffstetler, and the Stanley Fire Department, who read to the children.
According to Kiser Elementary School counselor Kayla Harris-Keerl, the children loved the event.
The community leaders were split between different grades and went from classroom to classroom reading books like "Mayor for the Day," and "How to Catch a Unicorn," Harris-Keerl said.
Denton and Jenkins brought candy and prizes for the students they worked with, the fire department brough hats for the students they were reading to, and the fifth graders had an opportunity to meet the principal of the school they will be attending next year.
In addition to the guest readers, Kiser Elementary also participated in One School, One Book last week, which is a program that allows them to buy one copy of a chosen book for every student, which the staff and students read together over time.
This year's book was Charlotte's Web, which prompted a Charlotte's Web costume contest.
Many children came to school dressed as spiders, pigs, and Fern, one of the main characters.
The students who dressed up also participated in a small parade around the school for other kids to enjoy.
The school could not choose just one winner, so instead, one child from every class won first place for their classroom and received a poster of their choice from the library as a reward, Harris-Keerl said.
While the school celebrates Read Across America week every year, this is the first year that they have invited guests to read to students.
"We were very fortunate that so many people in our community wanted to come out and read to our students and spend time with them," Harris-Keerl said. "We also had guests come on Monday as well, a different set of them, and it went really well. We do plan to, you know, continue this tradition and have more people come and hopefully grow it more for inviting more people to come read to our classes."
Elementary reading has seen some changes in the last several years, according to Harris-Keerl.
"Now we have virtuals, you know, like, they read on their chrome books or they listen to books in the classroom, and we have those options as well as the hard copies for libraries. Any way we can get a student involved in finding a book that they enjoy and wanting to read that book," she said. "It's so important because reading doesn't go away. We do it for the rest of our lives."
This article originally appeared on The Gaston Gazette: Kiser Elementary welcomes local leaders for Read Across America
