Middle Gate Students Celebrate The Language Arts

By Jeff White

Numerous Harry Potters joined 101 Dalmatians during a parade of literary characters last Friday at Middle Gate Elementary School – the culminating event for the school’s all-day celebration of the language arts.

The third annual “Middle Gate Loves to Read Day” was a huge success, according to Middle Gate faculty member Gail Huitt. It was a day that not only celebrated reading and writing, but acknowledged an entire year’s worth of student work in the language arts. “We’ve had a very exciting year,” Mrs Huitt said.

The day was highlighted by a number of special guest speakers that visited classrooms to give presentations. Newtown resident, author, and illustrator Bruce Degen – of Magic School Bus fame – read from a few of his books and talked about the inspiration some of his favorite characters and cartoons.

Dale Christopher, the son of Matt Christopher, the author of dozens of popular books on sports and sports figures, talked about his father’s work to third, fourth, and fifth graders.

There was Andrea Wright, who brought her Books Alive performance to Middle Gate, and Brigadier Balladier Bob, who presented a variety of ballads and books that were originally songs.

The special guests notwithstanding, Middle Gate faculty members brought their own special touch to the day. Fifth grade teacher Chris Breyen talked about writing for a newspaper, which he did before opting to teach. Other classrooms worked on visually displaying emotions, based on the popular book Peelings, in which various emotions are painted onto an assortment of fruit.

But with all that happened inside Middle Gate classrooms last Friday, it was how the day ended that punctuated the school’s love of reading. Students from every class dressed as their favorite literary characters, marched through the school’s hallways, past parents with popping camera flashes. The entire fourth grade dressed like the 101 Dalmatians, and they were joined by an assortment of characters from the popular Harry Potter books, and some familiar faces like the Scarecrow and Tin Man from The Wizard of Oz.

If February’s “100 Days” celebration focused on math skills at Middle Gate, then last week’s literacy celebration highlighted the ways that reading and writing are engraved into the lives of Middle Gate students.

Judging by the boisterous precession through the hallways as the day drew to a close, it was clear how large a role books and literary characters play in the identities of Middle Gate students.