A horde of eager readers descended on Clearview Elementary School in Clear Lake last Friday morning, eager to take part in the opening ceremonies for “I Love to Read Month”.
Principal Sheri Rutar had spent the previous week lining up volunteer readers from communities around the area, including St. Cloud School Superintendent Willie Jett, a large group of St. Cloud State University students, some members of the Becker Reader’s Theatre group and other staff and community volunteers.
The readers went to individual classrooms to read aloud the first chapter from The World According to Humphrey, by Betty G. Birney. The book tells the story of life in the classroom from the perspective of a hamster that lives in a luxurious cage there, the Humphrey of the book’s title. Each Clearview student was given a copy, as well as a reading list of chapters and was encouraged to make reading and discussing the book a family activity.
The effort is part of a nation-wide effort called “One District, One Book”, which, as described above, seeks to make reading and discussion a regular family activity.
