Reading week is an event that the students look forward to every spring at Holliman School.  In an effort to keep student spirit and educational enthusiasm strong, Reading Week was still celebrated during this first week of June, only with an added twist.  While many schools were forced to cancel reading week, Holliman decided to plan a virtual one instead.

Holliman School's reading week had the theme: Finish Strong and Read Along, and students have done just that.  Each day, students have been met with a number of very creative reading related activities and have been challenged to read for 30 minutes or more.

Amanda Hunter, parent of two Holliman students expressed grateful sentiments about the events still being held.  "My children love to read so much and they are truly enjoying less screen time and more reading." One of the optional activities that the children were asked to complete was a "Book Bento Box." The students were able to watch a slideshow, created by the school's reading specialist, which gave them the history of the bento box and the directions for a book bento box project that put a creative twist on the art form.  Students also truly loved guest readers popping into Google classrooms to read stories.  The sight of familiar school personnel brought smiles to the faces of many.   

Holliman School did have an exciting reading week planned for the students, but all plans had to be cancelled and rescheduled due to Covid 19.  Though the complete reorganizing of a virtual reading week was a bit of work, the teachers felt it was worth it, not to disappoint the students further.  This virtual reading week has been a success at bringing the Holliman community closer together, adding some new creative flair into the students' distance learning, and encouraging them to take breaks from the screen to read.

Editor’s Note: Ali Kanaczet, coordinator of the event, wrote this account.