Assemblyman Angelo Morinello recently paid a visit to the Lewiston-Porter campus and the Primary Educational Center building to congratulate all the students from the PEC and the Intermediate Education Center who completed the 2017 Summer Reading Challenge.
At the end of the school year, the students were sent home with a sheet asking them to read 20 minutes for 40 days and then log their time on their sheet to hand in at the beginning of the school year. More than 20 students completed the assignment and 12 handed it in.
School Literacy and Technology Integration Specialist Heather Zielinski said she is proud of the students who participated. "We told them if they completed this goal they would get a special surprise in the fall."
That surprise was Assemblyman Angelo Morinello, who came bearing certificates of achievement and pizza. He also treated students to a reading of one chapter from each of the two books that are part of their upcoming "One District, One Book" event: "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White and "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" by Beverly Cleary.
Morinello was a speaker at last year's "One District, One Book," culminating Family Literacy Night. He also came in at the end of the school year and recorded a chapter in the summer for last year's winning entry, "The World According to Humphrey" by Betty G. Birney to kick off the summer reading program.
"It was a lot of fun. We really had a good time with all the kids," he said. "The Assembly sponsors a summer reading program. It's 40 days of reading. I promised the kids here that, if enough of them here read, I would come back and throw a pizza party for them. I feel if you are going to encourage the children to participate you should actually make a ceremony out of giving the certificates. I am here to celebrate all the students who did 40 days of reading. What I am hoping it does is encourage the other students to participate next summer. "
The premise of the "One District, One Book" program is that the Lewiston-Porter community embraces the same book at the same time to promote a shared reading experience in each home. The community votes between two books and, after the votes are tallied, each students at the PEC and the IEC receive the book to take home and read with their family. The district has enlisted "guest" readers to read a chapter; families can view those online.
The Lewiston-Porter District will air videos this week (Jan. 3-5) for their two choices. Voting begins on Jan. 5 and continues to Jan. 13 at the following libraries: Lewiston, Ransomville and Youngstown. The community reveal will be at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 24, at the Lewiston Public Library, 305 S. Eighth St. The school reveal for the PEC and the IEC will be the following day. All students will receive the book that was chosen.
