Teachers Accepting the Challenge at Sailorway

Some of you may be aware that, for the past three years, Sailorway Middle School has had an ongoing Reading Challenge for teachers and students. As I have visited the classrooms at Sailorway Middle School, I have taken note of the title, and book display covers that indicate what our staff members have been reading on their own time. I am amazed at the diversity of the titles of books each teacher has read, as well as the number of books they have completed since the beginning of this school year. Each of the book titles and covers is prominently displayed at the entrance window or can be easily seen when walking into each classroom.

I believe this has been one of the most valuable initiatives that our middle school teaching and administrative team at Sailorway could have provided for our students. This is true modeling and a demonstration of love for reading in action! When students know that our staff have interests outside of school, and those interests are reflected in the title of the books they are reading, it opens up a whole new avenue and possibility to get to know students on a more personal level. Sharing thoughts and ideas about books with students make reading more relevant for them. Reading can bring such pleasure and comfort into our lives or can make us think about life differently.

Looking back at my school life, I am now so grateful for having been “taught” by my teachers the importance of reading. Without this basic knowledge, my life would have been totally changed. By gaining knowledge through reading, we can solve problems and make sense of a chaotic world. At first we “learn to read”, then later, as we become older and hopefully wiser, we begin to “read to learn.” Our students have embraced the reading for pleasure initiative at Sailorway and have been reading books for the past three years in record numbers.

The book circulation in the Sailorway library has dramatically increased for all three years! Recently the SMS library was awarded a generous grant from James Patterson through Scholastic. This allowed our library to offer several new and updated titles to our students. Next time you visit Sailorway, please take a moment to notice the books that our staff is reading. Our teachers are doing a wonderful job of proving that “for our children the road to happiness is usually paved by our example”. I challenge you, too, to get involved and model reading for the children in your life. Talk with them about the books they are reading, and encourage them to learn more. Reading opens up so many doors to our imagination, passions, and dreams. Without this valuable skill, life would certainly be less fulfilling.