Millersburg Elementary students gave real meaning to MORE, the theme for the school's Right to Read Week, by exceeding their reading goal by 1,886 books.
The students were challenged to read 2,000 books from March 27-31, but the colored slips designating the number of books read, totaled 3,886. The school selected its own week and theme, "Millennium of Reading Excitement," to observe Right to Read.
The first goal was met by March 29, the third day of the event, and almost doubled by the following Friday, according to Millersburg Principal Steve Orchard.
Wedged in between reading sessions and regular classwork were various activities to enhance the theme. On the final day of the event, all students were rewarded with a bag of popcorn and a performance by R.D. Hanger, Wooster, a member of the Wayne County Storytellers and Kinfolk Storytellers.
Hanger delighted his young audiences with his tale of the princess who wouldn't smile. Students howled with glee as he selected classmates to personify story characters.
Hanger gave a new twist to the age-old fairy tale of Cinderella. His voice was falsetto as he began: "My name is Cinderella, and I'm lookin' for a fella -- to take me to the ball tonight."
Cindy's wish was granted by Rocky Balboa, her fairy godfather, who conjured up a fit-for-a-ball running suit complete with a pair of glass Adidas. Cinderella went to the ball in a long. black limousine and danced the "Macareena" until midnight with the prince of her dreams.
At the conclusion of the story, the audience chimed in: "They lived happily ever after."
Hanger also told jokes and, accompanying himself on guitar, sang a song about a boy who was afraid of the dark.
After the performance, the students gave themselves a round of applause when Orchard announced the total number of books and commended them for a great job.
Each day of the week-long event provided a new activity, including Read-A-Hat Day, Button Day, Read to a Friend Day, Read to a Stuffed Animal Day and Read-A-Shirt Day. Twice a day, the principal would announce it was time to "stop, drop and read," and students were permitted to put down their class work and spend 10 minutes reading for pleasure.
The cafeteria walls were covered with colorful paper slips signifying another book that was completed. The slips, listing the reader's name, the book title, author and number of pages, was hung on the wall of the cafeteria.
The students were treated to ice cream sundaes on March 30. Parent volunteers, teachers and Orchard assisted with a variety of toppings to customize the sundaes. The ice cream and toppings were provided by Rodhes SuperCenter IGA and the West Holmes Music Boosters provided the popcorn.
Millersburg School Librarian Elaine Coblentz was active on the committee to coordinate the event. The purpose, she said, is "to encourage the students to read more books. That's how we came up with our MORE theme."
Coblentz said each morning students participated in a mystery book contest. A book that is familiar to most youngsters was selected and excerpts were read to the student body over the public address system. Each grade level tried to guess the book title.
Many teachers participated in organizing Right-to-Read activities, arranging for food, entertainment and activities. One teacher was responsible for tallying the total number of pages read by the students, but that number was not yet available.
"It was a lot of fun. The kids were very enthusiastic," Coblentz said.