Washington Junior and Senior High Schools are taking steps to improve the reading skills and motivation of the seventh to 12th grade students by implementing several new programs.
Year-long reading technique classes will be offered to select freshman students, and nine-week long reading courses for all seventh and eighth grade students will be executed.
There will be staff development sessions focusing on vocabulary development for the high school and junior high and an increased focus on refining and improving the high school’s Silent Sustained Reading program, which emphasizes reading for enjoyment.
The students are participating, and the administration and teachers have become involved. Now, the schools are working to involve the community in their reading advancement endeavors.
The community is invited to share their favorite title with the students by making monetary donation to purchase the suggested title that will be added to the Silent Sustained Reading libraries throughout the schools. Community members have the ability to personalize their donation by choosing a specific advisory, instructor, class or grade for the destination of their donated title.
The school is requesting monetary donations rather than a copy of the actual title because they have a provider that can get them great prices.
“We want to make sure to use money as wisely as possible,” said WHS and WJHS Literacy Coach Jackie Esch.
“I’m hoping that we can add three or four titles to (each of) the Silent Sustained Reading libraries in the junior high and high school,” Esch said.
Esch said future plans include reading groups during lunch and networks with other schools. The goal, she said, is to make reading a very social activity in schools.
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If You Want to Help
To help improve literacy in the community through this program, contact Washington Schools Literacy Coach Jackie Esch at 254-3860 or e-mail her at jesch@wcs.k12.in.us.
