Saddlers Primary holds Reading Week
By Melissa Bryant
Reporter~SKNVibes.com
~~Adz:Right~~BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – STUDENTS of the Saddlers Primary School will replace televisions and computers with books during this week as the institution celebrates its annual Reading Week from November 10 to 14.
A myriad of activities have been scheduled for the week, all of which aim to promote the benefits of reading.
Today (Nov. 10) there was a display of the students’ compositions, poetry pieces and short stories throughout the school. Jaritza Boddie of Grade Three was declared winner of a slogan contest held in commemoration of the week with her entry of ‘Done with the TV, Cool with the Lime, Give Me a Book, It’s Reading Time’.
There will be a puppet show tomorrow (Nov. 11) and, on the following day, the school’s newly-refurbished library will be opened with a brief ceremony that will be attended by senior government officials.
On Thursday (Nov. 13) pupils will represent the school in Independence Square during the Drama Day celebrations.
The week will culminate on Friday (Nov. 14) with a march through the community and an elocution contest for the school’s third to sixth graders. Throughout the week teachers will read poems to their respective classes and each morning students will participate in ‘DEAR – Drop Everything and Read’ for 15 minutes.
According to Grade Three teacher Kira Mason, the week-long programme is “a way to empower children to read”.
“We want to show them that reading isn’t boring; rather, it’s a fun activity and we want them to take the initiative, pick up a book and read because they want to, not just because someone has ordered them to do so.
“Children need to understand that they can gain a lot from reading. The more they read the more they’ll learn, and the more their writing skills will improve,” she concluded.
Saddlers Primary’s Reading Week marks the third such activity over the course of a month, as the Maurice Hillier Memorial Junior School and the Bronte Welsh Primary School have both held similar week-long activities aimed at encouraging students to read.
