Read-a-thon 2008 Kicks Off
At Barnes & Noble
Story by Janet Weeks Cohen
Photos by Aki Tuccu
What do you get when you mix a Big Apple Circus performer-turned-dad emcee, a bunch of funny poetry, and a pack of giggling grade schoolers on the verge of a book buying splurge? Answer: A very successful kick-off for P.S. 8's third annual Barnes & Noble Book Fair. The Book Fair is the opening event of the month-long annual Read-a-thon, in which students raise money for their school by reading.
The event, held on October 23 at the Barnes & Noble on Court Street, truly was an opening attraction, because this year the store will donate a portion of sales made over the entire next week to the school. In years past, only items bought on the night of the Book Fair counted.
Last year, the school made $1,300 in a single day from the Book Fair. Just think what we can do with six extra days to draft friends and relatives. Let your loved ones know that P.S. 8 Book Fair fundraising vouchers (available at school and in an emailable, pdf version here) can be used at any Barnes and Noble store nationwide from now until October 29. A new book for your child is a great way to start him or her off on the Read-a-thon.
But fundraising wasn't the main thing on attendees' minds when Stephen Ringold, Big Apple Circus star and entertainer extraordinaire, started things off with a whistling contest (immediately preceded by some crazy cracker eating) and then tried desperately to prove he couldn't juggle, the first of many amazing tricks he "couldn't do."
In between the clowning, P.S. 8 students and faculty read funny verses composed by kid-friendly poets. Poems by Jack Prelutsky, named Children's Poet Laureate by the Poetry Foundation, predominated and the student readers really brought the verse to life. Fourth graders Iva Fehr and Shanice Andall and the fifth graders Nick Ward and Tariq Bracket all gave fantastic, confident, lively readings interspersed with great cameo appearances by parent coordinator Blake Amos and third grade teacher Melissa Browning.
For the final act, principal Seth Phillips elected to read a poem by Kenn Nesbitt that spoke especially to him. The piece, entitled "The Principal is Missing" tells the tale of a hapless school leader who disappears after forgetting an important date:
Please tell him that we miss him.
We're sorry we were mean.
But tell him next Saint Patrick's Day
he needs to wear some green.
After the reading and clowning, the happy group got down to shopping. The teachers were on hand to share their class wish lists with any adult having trouble deciding what to get. But the students needed no help finding plenty of literature to love.
NOTE: Remember, if you missed last night's event, you can still take advantage of the Book Fair. Now's the time to purchase holiday presents, take home a few new titles to tempt your kids to read in the P.S. 8 Read-a-thon and help stock the school's shelves with great books. Ask your teacher or class parents if your room has a wish list. A run-down of the school library's most wanted books is available at the Court Street Barnes and Noble.)
Click here for more photos of the event
Posted on: October 29, 2008
