SCHOOL COMMENTS:
High Point Elementary School
Joel Sloss, Dawn Fischer, Jackie Brown - Teachers
BookPALS Martha Knighton and Jackie Prucha were fabulous, always flexible, and always ready to spend time with the children! The thing we enjoyed most about the BookPALS is how gracious the readers are and how clear it is that they enjoy the children. We would love to have more readers!
Hightower Elementary School
Christine C. Parker, Upper Grades Literacy Coach
All of our students were motivated to meet their weekly reading goal by having Adora do Read Alouds. As she read, students were able to see her emotional response to the books and her sometimes thinking out loud, which is a best practices "piece" that teachers are incorporating. It helps when kids see someone in the real world doing just as their teachers. We enjoyed Adora's smile and enthusiasm as a person and a reader. Enthusiastically, when the kids saw her, it was, "Oh, wow! You mean she gets to read to us again? COOL!"
Love T. Nolan Elementary School
Selena McNeill and Maria Leskanic, Teachers
The students enjoyed the stories read to them by BookPAL Carolyn Ellis and the engaging experience!
River Eves Elementary School
Rob Pralgo read with character voices in such animated ways and the students loved it! BookPALS bring books to life for our young readers. Everyone enjoyed Rob's enthusiasm!
BOOKPAL COMMENTS:
Freda Scott Giles
Chase Street Elementary School
We read all the notices that you send and are so happy that BookPALS continues to be such a successful program. Thank you for all that you do to make it so.
Greta Glenn
Cedar Grove Elementary School
Thank you so very much for scheduling me to read at Cedar Grove Elementary School. I thoroughly enjoyed my mornings with the children. I read for "Story-Time" in the Media Center and sometimes got a chance to go to various classes to read, also. Ms. Adams, the Media Specialist, was wonderful and very enthusiastic about my being there! I hope that I will be able to participate again next school year.
Doug Kaye
Burgess-Peterson Academy
Hey, Cindy! I've wrapped up this year at Burgess-Peterson, and had a wonderful year with those kids!
Dennis Klein
River Eves Elementary School
I must have had seven kids come up to me this morning to show me loose teeth and teeth they had just lost. What brought that on, I'll never know! Last week I showed a gospel music video that I was in with the Speers Family and it went off great. So when I came back, a lot of them asked me if I was going to show it again!
Heather Place
Norton Park Elementary School
I can't believe I only have one more BookPALS session left at Norton Park! Thursdays in May are pretty busy for them with Field Day, Awards Assembly, parties, etc. I am also performing in their Cultural Arts Day on May 11th!
Minnie Tee
Grayson Elementary School
May 2007 – Miss Minnie’s parting words
To my wonderful young friends:
I don’t know how this school year has gone by so fast, or how you’ve all grown so much. Not only in size, but in your knowledge and maturity. You’ve grown from pollywogs to tadpoles, it seems, almost over night. And now you’re truly on your way to becoming our country’s newest generation of leaders, doctors, scientists, teachers, artists, writers, mothers and fathers, and anything you want to be in your adult life.
I’ve enjoyed meeting you, reading to you, singing with you and basking in your energy. You’re wonderful young people. Now I’d like to give you some sound words of advice that I’d like you to keep forever and read at least once a year. Maybe twice: once at the beginning of the school year and again at the end. There’s no particular order of importance to this list, although some things are much more important than others. I can honestly say that I’ve lived my life with the things in this list, so I’m not advising you to do anything I haven’t done myself. Here goes:
-Think before you speak. Words can hurt and last a lifetime.
-Tell people nice things about them when you see them.
-Don’t be afraid to be different. Be your own person. Be an individual. Don’t do things just because “everyone else is.”
-Know right from wrong and do the right thing. If you’re tempted to do the wrong thing, think of the consequences. Think of the punishment. But most important – THINK!
-Protect your hearing. Keep the volume down when you’re watching TV or listening to music.
-Read everything you can; all kinds of books and newspapers.
-Learn about the world around you. Be an active participant.
-Form your own opinions. Find out both sides of an issue.
-Smile – all the time.
-Be nice to your parents and family. Even brothers and sisters.
-Look people in the eye.
-Never harm yourself or others.
-Stand up for what’s right, even if it’s not the popular thing to do.
-Never use illegal drugs or use other things to get “high.” Get your highs in life by being proud of the work that you do and the love you receive from your family and friends.
-Don’t start smoking and drinking alcohol just because “it’s the thing to do” and “everyone else is doing it.”
You’ll probably hear all these things from other people as you get older. At least I hope you will. So my last bit of advice is to sing whenever you can, enjoy your life and help make other lives enjoyable when you can. Make a difference in this world.
BookPALS
http://www.bookpals.net/content/article.php?story=20070724105306911