Friday, December 27, 2002
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Friday, December 27, 2002 |
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Students combine joy of reading with helping others Students in the Accelerated Reader Program at Tyrone Elementary are enhancing their reading skills while learning about the importance of community service. The theme for this year's program is "Get Your Paws on a Great Book and Become a Dog Gone Good Reader," which fits perfectly with the community service component of helping animals at the Fayette County Humane Society. So far students at the school are proving that they are great readers as well as community supporters. Over half of the school's students, about 200, have made their reading goals. At the beginning of the school year, each student's teacher set goals on an individual basis. Students earn points based on the books they read and by taking tests which gauge their reading comprehension. In order to reach their goals, students must maintain an 85 percent average on the tests. "Here at Tyrone we emphasize quality, not quantity. I'm just real tickled with our students' success," said Media Specialist LeeAnn Wildman. In addition to reading books, the students, in keeping with this year's theme, have also been participating in a pet drive to collect items needed for the housing of animals at the Fayette County Humane Society such as leashes, food, treats, towels, cat litter and toys. Wildman says she thought it was important for students to learn about community service and that this was a perfect time of year to focus on helping animals. "While our students are learning about the joy of books, I wanted them to learn about the joy that you bring to yourself and others by helping in the community," explained Wildman. "Many of our students will probably get a pet as a holiday gift. We want them to realize that pets come with needs and responsibilities." In order to celebrate the students' accomplishments, both in reading and community service, the school hosted a pampered pet party where students were able to relax and have fun shaving with popsicle sticks, styling hair with gel and mousse and decorating faces with Dalmatian tattoos.
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