“Dive Into Reading” with the ES Read-A-Thon

This year’s Read-A-Thon officially kicked off on February 15, 2021, but students were busy creating artwork to decorate the hallways during the week prior to spring break. The Monday they arrived back on campus, students saw their pieces on display: fish lined the walls of the hallway; scuba divers covered the walls of the ES office; and sea turtles, jellyfish, and other sea-themed decor surrounded the library and cafeteria breezeway. 

At the opening assemblies for each grade level, students watched a Zoom-call-style skit. In it, Ms. Larson (a.k.a. Miss Frizzle) led her students through an underwater adventure, showing everyone that when we dive into reading, we can use our imagination to visualize places and things we would like to see and experience. Students then learned about individual prizes, class prizes, and what would be required to pie the principals! 

The three-week reading initiative was filled with extra time with books, as well as a photo competition and sea occupation/animal of the sea dress down day. The reveal of this year’s Read-A-Thon video was also set for the closing ceremony, so students had the opportunity to be filmed around campus as they dove into their books. 

The closing assembly for Read-A-Thon was an exciting time, celebrating all of the reading that had been done. Students were awarded individual prizes based on the minutes they had read, classes were rewarded with an ice cream or pizza party for the highest average minutes collectively, and individuals were selected to serve as principal, assistant principal, chaplain, and librarian for the day. But the big question on everyone’s mind was: Will we get to pie the principals?

In order to earn the pieing privilege, ES students had to return 890 reading logs (approximately 65% participation). If they did so, names would be chosen to pie Mr. Carpenter, Mr. Benedict, and our headmaster, Dr. Zickefoose. Excitement filled the auditorium as students found out that they had far exceeded that goal: Over 1,300 reading logs had been returned! More than 95% of the Reading Logs that were sent home with students were returned with minutes logged. YISS ES students definitely dove headfirst into their reading!   

Before heading back to class, the 2021 Read-A-Thon video debuted. Students were able to celebrate a job well done as they hummed along, spotting themselves and classmates throughout the video clips. What a great way to celebrate reading!