Hawley School Kicks Off Annual One School One Read

By Eliza Hallabeck

With teachers dressed as swans and a blue tiger visiting the school, Hawley Elementary School students had a surprise on Wednesday, September 30, when the school kicked off its One School One Read annual program.

The One School One Read program is sponsored by the school’s PTA and each student in the school reads the same book for one month. Members of the school’s PTA also decorated the school in preparation for the students learning what this year’s One School One Read book would be.

As Hawley Elementary School Principal JoAnne Peters stood before the gym full of students for the event, the students were waiting to learn the name of the book the entire school was about to begin reading together.

“I need your help,” Ms Peters said at the start of the assembly in the school’s gym. “There are two things we did not do this morning that we normally do every morning about 8:20.”

The first thing the students then did together while assembled as a group was say the Pledge of Allegiance, and the second was learn a new word for the day. Wednesday’s word was event, because as the students learned the word, they were holding an event.

Then Storm, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers’ mascot, walked in the gym to help library/media specialist Doris Papp recognize the students who had completed summer reading books.

“Congratulations to all the summer readers,” said Mrs Papp. “Let’s have a big hand.”

Students who read the required number of books over the summer also earned tickets to see a Sound Tigers game. After the summer readers had been recognized, language consultant Lynn Holcomb told the students they would soon learn what the book would be this year’s One School One Read.

“And pretty soon you are going to see this whole school transform,” said Mrs Holcomb.

Next teachers performed a short skit as a hint for students to figure out what their One School One Read Book would be.

After students guessed the book they will be reading is The Trumpet of The Swan, by E.B. White, books provided by the school’s PTA were handed out to each teacher to distribute to their students.