"Readathon" held at Evergreen Elementary School

A "readathon" was held at the Evergreen Elementary School library last Wednesday evening. The event, explained teacher Ryan Howe, was a great opportunity for Wrangell families to spend an evening reading with their children, having some snacks, and enjoying each other's company.

"This is a great time of year to do family-oriented, fun events like this," he said. "The teachers wanted to offer something that demonstrated a commitment to student learning but was also fun, and in the spirit of the season."

The readathon was geared towards families with younger children, but was open to people of all ages. Besides books, attendees were treated to snacks, hot chocolate and other drinks, and iPads to play with. The idea for the readathon came up a few years ago when the state president of NEA-Alaska, an affiliate of the National Education Association, came to visit. The president discussed student learning, and ideas on how to promote education outside of the classroom. That was when the teachers came up with the idea of the readathon, Howe said.

"It's sort of teacher initiated, but it's a district activity," he said. "Basically, how the idea came around, is we heard the message that the union and the teachers should do more to promote student learning outside of classrooms, and we responded to that by saying 'Okay, what can we do?' And this was one of the ideas that came out of that."

An additional goal of the readathon, beyond teaching children and giving families a fun activity, is to promote reading. Howe said that he hopes the readathon will help reinforce, in children as well as parents, how important reading is. After all, he said, it does not hurt to read more.