Story by Ainsley Hall
MARTINSBURG — Eagle School Intermediate hosted a Literacy Carnival where students were encouraged to enjoy reading and have fun. Throughout the event, families visited different stations where a teacher would read a story and lead them in an activity relating to the book. Through this event, the school hoped to encourage parents and students to read at home.
Rachel Stottlemyer, a teacher at Eagle School Intermediate, was the main person in charge of the event. Before she started working at Eagle School, Stottlemyer helped out at a similar event at another school. She decided to start the event at the Eagle School Intermediate to help some of the Title I students.
“It’s definitely important to make that family-school connection,” Stottlemyer said. “It encourages the students to enjoy reading and make it more likely for them to read at home. We want them to immerse themselves in reading and make parents aware of how beneficial it is for their kids.”
Students and their families explored different stations with activities such as creating pasta art, solving a states puzzle, making homemade slime, bowling, making fake snow and more. Each station had a book to go along with the activity such as popular kids books like “Strega Nona” by Tomie dePaola and “Pete the Cat” by James Dean.
“Reading is always a big focus at school, but it important that students read outside of school,” said Joyce Ashworth, assistant principal. “We want them to enjoy reading and read to learn. Some parents need help to see what that might look like for them. Seeing what the teachers do will give them ideas to do at home.”
As a Title I school, Eagle School Intermediate hosts many events throughout the school year to help students learn. These events always focus on core subjects such as reading and math. Principal John Golebiewski believes that having events like this helps staff learn to work together, which in turn will help the school succeed.
“Literacy is an important building block both here at school and in life in general,” Golebiewski said. “We want to create excitement and a love for reading. When the staff work together to do that, we can make gains as an institution.”
By encouraging students, the teachers hope the students know they are cared for and will be more willing to do their best in all aspects of their work. The staff enjoys having the opportunity to see families interact outside of the normal school hours. The school plans to continue hosting events like this to help support students and parents.