IN Peters Township December 2017/January 2018 | Page 86

E
ach year the Read-a-Thon at Bower Hill Elementary School
is a memorable event. Dedicated PTA parents work for
months on a theme, organizing parent guest readers, raffle
prizes and displays throughout the school to get students
excited about reading. But somehow this year’s Read-a-Thon is
just, well… different.
“When we look around here right now, this is what
elementary school is supposed to look like,” said Bower Hill
Principal Rob Garvey.
“The illustrations in the book are painted rocks,” explained
Samantha McVicker, the PTA parent who led the read-a-thon
effort. “We wanted each of our kids to create their own rock to
show what makes each of them unique too.”
During their art classes (grades 1-3) and center time
(kindergarten), each student designed and painted their own
rock to symbolize that we are all unique and that we each have
something special and interesting to add to the world. For
the final step in the process, the rocks were given a protective
coating to seal them from the outdoor elements
before being arranged in front of the school in a
colorful rock garden display for all to admire.
“Watching the students walk in the day after
the new rock garden was installed was so much
Students
created their
own unique
rocks during
art class with
help from
teacher Mrs.
Steinmetz
and parent
volunteers.
As students arrive at school, they enjoyed looking through the
rock garden to find their contribution.

What Mr. Garvey is referring to are not only the positive
messages on display throughout the school to go along
with the theme book “Only One You,” by Linda Kranz, but
the teamwork of parents, teachers, administrators and
students that have made it all possible.
“Success at the elementary level really relies on a strong
home-school partnership,” he added. “This amazing effort
really exemplifies that synergy at its best.”
The read-a-thon began with welcoming parents into each
classroom to read this year’s theme book to the class. The
parent readers introduced the read-a-thon and encouraged
students to read and track their minutes each night. The
students in each classroom signed their copy of the book,
which was set aside to be given to the student in that class
who read for the most minutes during the event.
In the weeks that followed, students could submit raffle
tickets for each 30 minute span of reading time. In addition,
this year’s event included a new element for the school – one
that incorporated the school’s art teachers, paint, and lots of
parent volunteers.
84 Peters Township
The Read-
a-Thon
kicked off
with parent
volunteers
coming to
each class
to read this
year’s theme
book.
fun,” added Assistant Principal Julie Franczyk. “They were so
respectful of the hard work that went into it – no one stepped
into the rocks, but they all wanted to find their contribution.”
With all this excitement going on, were the students still
reading? You’d better believe they were! In all, students read
for 239,674 minutes and collected $28,362.91 in donations for
the school to be used in programs throughout the year.
“The hard work of our parent volunteers has impacted every
student and teacher here,” adds Mr. Garvey. “And it doesn’t
end with the conclusion of the read-a-thon – as students walk
by the rock garden each day, the positive messages serve as
reminders of how special each student is at Bower Hill.”