Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 14, 1994 TAG: 9406140373
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Amy, a fourth-grader at Fallon Park Elementary School, has read so many books that she has lost count.
Hundreds of other children at the Roanoke school have been reading, too, though not as much as Amy. Still, the reading bug has spread rapidly among the 600 students at Fallon Park. Some imposing numbers have been recorded.
Collectively, the students have read 2,302 books since February.
They're bookworms - and proud of it. So, they celebrated Monday.
They had fun as they decorated their principal, Virginia Stuart, and assistant principal, Lois Trent, to resemble bookworms, the big payoff.
Three months ago, Stuart told them they could decorate her and Trent to look like worms if they read enough books to make a paper worm long enough to encircle the inside of the building.
The students did that.
The worm is composed of paper circles that are about five inches in diameter. Each circle contains the name and author of a book read by a student. The student's name also is on the circle.
The paper circles inch along along the halls like a worm.
Peggy King, a fourth-grade teacher, said the children got excited as the paper worm grew.
King said the students have been motivated to read so they could add to the paper worm and see their names in the circles.
"This has helped persuade them to read. Everybody was reading, and it caught on," King said.
Stuart hopes the children get hooked on reading. At an assembly Monday, she urged them to visit the city's public libraries during the summer and check out books. Nearly 400 students have obtained library cards as a result of a librarian's visit to the school.
Stuart told the students that reading is a key to getting a good job and making money.
"We want you to be committed to reading, because it is so important," she said.
by CNB