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Schools

Card-carrying readers

By TOM MARSHALL
Published December 1, 2006

From left, Allie Pittman, 13, tells her friends Kalyn Donovan, 12, Lauren Fitch, 12, and Danielle Hughes, 12, about her book, The City of Ember, in the library at West Hernando Middle School Thursday. Video: Books on a string
	[Times photo: Keri Wiginton]

ADVERTISEMENT [Times photo: Keri Wiginton] From left, Lauren Hartwell, 11, Katelyn McDow, 11, and Sarah Iozzi, 11, hold up the title cards they wear listing the name of the book they are currently reading. Video: Books on a string

SPRING HILL - At first glance, it seemed like an ordinary day in the West Hernando Middle School cafeteria, full of chattering and hurried lunch gobbling.

But there was something off, something - literary.

Dangling around students' necks were book titles. Eleven-year-old Katelyn McDow was advertising Can You Feel the Thunder? while her friend Cynthia McDowell sported The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Who started this reading frenzy? Blame reading teacher Kathy Eppley.

Her little brainstorm was to ask all students and adults to wear cards around their necks with the titles of the books they're reading. The idea turned out to be so elegant, and apparently so original, that national reading experts are vowing to steal it.

"It seems like such a dorky idea," Eppley said. "But a lot of kids try to hide the fact that they're reading. They're kind of closet readers."

Now those kids are out in the open, inciting mass book chats in the hallways at the low-income school, where 51 percent of students qualify for free or reduced-fee lunches.

School librarians at West Hernando have reported a run on hot titles. Bookworms suddenly find themselves with genuine status in the social pecking order. Kids are reading, for heaven's sake.

"The faculty, the custodians, the lunch ladies - the place has taken off," said media specialist Cecelia Solomon. "This is my 30th year in education, and I've never seen anything like this."

Over the years, schools have tried just about everything to boost interest in reading: prizes, contests, even a statewide read-along this fall for a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records. In Washington, D.C., the class that reads the most gets a visit from Capitals hockey defenseman Brian Pothier and Slapshot, the team's mascot.

But experts say Eppley's brainstorm could be that rarity, like Newton's moment with the apple: a genuine new idea.

"Awesome," said Cyndi Phillip, president of the American Association of School Librarians, vowing to try it at her own school library in Grand Haven, Mich.

"Oh, that's cute," agreed Linda Gambrell, president-elect of the International Reading Association, when she heard about it. "I love the idea, and you can tell them I plan to steal it."

Gambrell, author of Creating Classroom Cultures that Foster Reading Motivation and a professor of education at Clemson University, said many incentive programs discourage less fluent readers or encourage students to read below their ability in order to rack up points.

But Eppley's idea, she said, promotes the opposite: genuine discussions and excitement about reading.

"What that idea does is it simply shouts, 'I am a reader, I enjoy books,' " Gambrell said. "It's not a competition."

Well, there is a little bit of competition. Eighth-grader Austin Brooks is in a friendly race with his mom Diann, a data entry secretary at the school.

Who's winning?

"She is," he admitted. "By, I think, three books."

Custodians Grant Gibbs and Brenda Greene were taking their time with To Kill a Mockingbird.

For Greene, 42, the novel serves as a reminder of the improvements African-Americans have seen in their daily lives since the days of segregation.

"I like reading these books because they're way before my time," she said. "I thank God I'm living today. To me, there's no difference between black and white."

For students who have always grooved on reading, these are salad days at West Hernando.

"I read more because it's around my neck," said Shardasha Jackson, 12.

Hayley Wilfong had a lanyard with no card, but that didn't stop her from launching into an enthusiastic book review.

"Mine's at home, I forgot it," she began. "I'm reading George and the Dragon. It's about a knight who slays a dragon."

Sarah Iozzi, 11, goes into trances over a good read.

"Once you get into a book, you just can't get out," she said. "I can't leave a page halfway through. It just gets me mad."

And how does she feel when her latest book is over?

"Over? More! Give me more!" Sarah said. "It's like when you eat a chocolate cake. Just give me a little bit more."

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.

[Last modified December 1, 2006, 06:35:58]