Parent Teacher Magazine Union County Public Schools September 2014 | Page 5
Marshville Elementary teachers take reading on the road
Teachers at Marshville Elementary School are continuing to make
a difference during their summer breaks.
About 10 teachers from the school are volunteering their
time over the summer to take books to students in Marshville
neighborhoods, thus encouraging students to continue reading over
the summer in order to keep up their reading skills.
Amy Paschal, a pre-K teacher at Marshville Elementary, said they
take the books into rural communities where some of the parents
don’t have transportation. The bookmobile makes it easier for the
parents to get their children books to read over the summer.
“With us being a Title One school, we have a lot more need to
increase reading within our community,” said Jill Zandrowicz, a fifthgrade Marshville Elementary teacher. “Maintaining reading levels is a
big struggle. It’s something we need to work on.”
The “bookmobile,” an activity bus from the school, is available
every Tuesday and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.,
traveling through several neighborhoods. The bus takes the same
route each day so parents will know approximately when they will
arrive in their community.
“It’s the best advice we could ever give a parent, ‘Read to your
child’,” Paschal said. “Reading increases the student’s vocabulary. It
takes them places they could never go on their own.”
“We encourage the older kids to read to their siblings,”
Zandrowicz said.
Students are allowed to pick two books. They are also given a
snack and bottled water. If they bring the books back the following
week, they are given two more.
Mikayla Bethea, 6, said she looks forward to the bookmobile each
week. “I’m excited. We get to change books every week. My favorite
books are about princesses and Tinker Bell. I want to get a Tinker
Bell covers for my bed.”
The bookmobile serves about
75 students per day. Kimyada
Gerald, a first-grade teacher, said
she enjoys seeing her students
and former students. “Seeing them
during the summer months helps
me keep that relationship,” she said.
Zandrowicz said the bookmobile
helps establish relationships with
students now that she will have
when they enter fifth grade.
“They don’t get to me until
much later,” she said. “It lets
me get to know them at a much
younger age. I can foster that
relationship with them for years
to come.”
The bookmobile offers about
150 books to choose from.
As Marshville Elementary is a
Title One school, Zandrowicz said
the summer effort is being funded
by Title One funds.
Paschal said she hopes that the
project will expand every year.
-- This article was written by Deb
Coates Bledsoe, Communications
Coordinator UCPS Communications
Office
Students step down off
the Marshville Elementary
School “bookmobile,”
three of about two-dozen
students who checked out
books.
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Parent Teacher Magazine • Sept/Oct 2014 • 3