To celebrate Pick a Reading Partner month, guest readers visited classrooms throughout March at Park Avenue Elementary School in the Amityville Union Free School District. Among the visitors were school and central office administrators, board of education trustees, parents, grandparents and community members.

The goal of PARP is to get students excited about reading and this year’s theme was “Wild About Reading.” Children were encouraged to read every day at home and log their minutes. The top three readers in every grade were recognized at the end of each week. 

There were several other activities throughout the month. Students were visited by mystery readers, wore shirts and hats with words, brought their favorite books to schools, dressed up as book characters and designed bookmarks.  

“We were excited to welcome our special guests to share the joy of reading,” said Principal Robyn Santiago. “We want to instill in our students a love of reading, and it is important for them to see different people from different professions reading and reading for enjoyment.”