Gadsden County Students “Stop, Drop and Read!” IT’S YOUR CHOICE!
Submitted by Audrey Lewis-Potter, Gadsden County Schools
Gadsden County Superintendent Reginald James believes that “reading is the language of learning.” He has a commitment and a passion for encouraging every child to read and has found a way to involve not only parents and teachers in this worthy goal, but district staff and community leaders as well.
The Superintendent’s initiative is called “It’s Reading Time- STOP, DROP, READ.” Between the hours of 6:00 and 8:00 PM each night, students are asked to “stop” what they may be doing at home, “drop” down with a good book, and “read!”
On Tuesday nights in December, School Board members, community officials, district leaders and school staff, and local media boarded the Gadsden County Parent Resource Mobile Unit (RV) and went into local communities to see if they could catch children reading.
Parents were told to leave their porch lights on to indicate their children were reading. When students were caught reading, they and their parents received a prize. Students received gift bags containing books, pencils, notebooks and other items. Parents received a Wal-Mart gift card worth $25. These gifts were made possible by generous donations from the HarborLite Corporation in Quincy and other community members. In addition, School Choice information and parent involvement resources were distributed to parents.
Children in Gretna were visited on December 1. Porch lights in Havana were burning brightly on December 8, and students in Chattahoochee were excitedly waiting to be discovered reading on December 16. Trips to communities will continue on Tuesday nights for the duration of the campaign.
