THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 2, 1996 TAG: 9605310194
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 20 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARK YOUNG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 64 lines
Dinosaurs have been spotted roaming the halls of Plaza Elementary School. In fact, dinosaurs of all descriptions have been omnipresent in the school since last September.
That's when the school's reading program began for the year, with dinosaurs as the official mascots of their efforts. Unlike the ``Jurassic Park'' variety, these prehistoric beasts set off no shrieks of terror, but created more than a few squeals of delight.
That was especially true on a recent Friday when the school celebrated the ``extinction'' of its reading program's goal for the second year in a row. When the program officially ended May 15, Plaza students read or had had read to them, 27,175 books, surpassing by far their goal of 15,000.
The reading program's theme, Plazasauruses are Big On Reading, was the brainchild of the school's Reading Action Team, headed by librarian Loretta Scott. Scott's team executed a reading strategy.
Prominently placed in the school's main hallway, between the cafeteria and the library, was the program's thermometer-style chart surrounded by large dinosaur cutouts showing each new plateau the program reached monthly as it rose to the final total. Mirroring this businesslike device were dinosaur displays at the door to each classroom, showing the number of books read each month of the school year. Each month, the classes with the highest totals were announced over the public address system and posted on the chart.
A variety of initiatives were employed in the quest for the reading team's goal of increasing students' reading for pleasure. Any books students read for whatever purpose, whether it was the school system-wide Book-It program, the MS Readathon, or merely bedtime stories read to them by family members counted. Books were read to students in their classrooms and the library. Dinosaur books were extremely popular, Scott said, so were the Goosebumps series, the kiddy-scare books by R.L. Stein.
The students were not limited to fiction. A child who read history or current events non-fiction for assignments could include that in his or her team total. Rewards in the form of dinosaur stickers, spinning tops, airplanes, candy and pencils were available from the library.
On celebration day, a costumed Plazasaurus prowled the halls handing out bookmarks, lollipops and hugs to passing students. Volunteering dad, Tom Seibert, sweated and strutted inside the latex and fabric suit that placed him in a unique species somewhere between Barney and the T-rex.
The Navy man's daughter, kindergartner Tranell Seibert, was aware of the friendly monster's identity but other students speculated endlessly.
A festive atmosphere was evident from hundreds of dinosaur drawings on display, papier-mache dinosaurs that hung from the ceiling and loomed out of bulletin boards throughout the school.
All the first-grade classes and several third-grade classes designed their own dinosaur T-shirts, which were worn proudly. School staff members, including teachers and even school principal, Pamela McKinney, wore their own colorful shirts reflecting the theme.
The reading celebration day festivities at Plaza were filmed by the city's cable television crew and was shown on city channel 48 all last week. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARK YOUNG
On May 15, the day Plaza Elementary School students celebrated the
``extinction'' of their reading program's goal, a costumed
Plazasaurus - a.k.a. volunteer dad Tom Seibert - roamed the halls
handing out bookmarks, lollipops and hugs, along with librarian
Loretta Scott. The program was the brainchild of the school's
Reading Action Team. by CNB