Photo Gallery: Family Reading Night at GHS

The Gallup Hill School Read-a-thon is a 20-day reading challenge that officially began on Feb. 19 and continues through March 10. The Read-a-thon, which ties into the school curriculum, is designed to highlight the fun of reading even as it raises money for the Library Renovation Project.

The event began with a Book Swap. Students brought in up to 5 books that they wanted to swap for "new" books. The books were collected over a week, then sorted into grade levels. Each student received one “book buck” per book brought in to swap.

The result was enough books for every student to receive at least one book whether they participated or not.  Each class visited the Book Swap where they could "shop" for their "new" books.

Students set reading goals and fundraising goals – to which they would seek pledges for minutes read by each student. Fundraising is not a mandatory part of participation, but reading is. The school-wide goal is 70,000 minutes, but the real goal is to have 100 percent reading participation. Toward that end, prizes were offered and reading for homework counts toward reading minutes.

On March 2, Dr. Seuss' birthday and midway through the Read-a-thon, the school sponsored a Read Across America Family Reading Night.  The fun began with a potluck dinner at 5:30 p.m., followed by several "celebrity" readers, and great stories. An "edible art show" also was part of the night's festivities. 

Gallup Hill School parent Denise Dittrich brought her camera and has these photos to share with us.