Inspirational projects spur successful Peters Township read-a-thon
Bower Hill Elementary School rocks, to the tune of a decade-high $28,362 generated by this year’s student read-a-thon.
Oh, and there’s a new rock garden out front that probably had a lot to do with the fundraiser’s success.
The two tie together through “Only One You” by Linda Kranz, the book selected by the school PTA as the event’s featured book.
“The message is really, I think, perfect for a K-to-3 building,” Samantha McVicker, the PTA vice president who chaired the read-a-thon, explained. “It’s about being an individual, celebrating you for you, and you don’t always have to go with the crowd.”
“The support we’ve gotten from the teachers and the staff has overwhelmed us in a positive way.” – Karen Lingis, PTA president
The book is filled with inspirational sayings that prompted the posting of signs throughout the school to share them.
“Honestly, we wanted to do it for the kids, but I think it’s a huge morale booster for all of the adults who walk through the building: parents, teachers, staff,” McVicker said. “Everybody takes a look at them and thinks, oh, yeah. That’s a really good thought.”
An accompanying project was for students and staff members to paint rocks for display, each depicting whatever the illustrator wanted to express. About 720 of them now are part of a decorative display near the entrance of the Peters Township School District building.
“When I have a look at the garden, I see it as almost symbolic of what we’re trying to teach here, that there is only one you. You are unique. You are your own person,” principal Robert Garvey said. “But we come to school every day to make this wonderful building, this wonderful school community. And when you take those individual rocks that the kids planned, designed and painted, it makes one beautiful garden.”
Similarly inspired, Bower Hill students put in 239,674 minutes of reading to earn money through pledges.
“It’s always been a wonderful fundraiser, because all the money gets to come right back to Bower Hill, instead of a percentage,” McVicker said. “And no one has to sell anything. You just get to encourage kids to read.”
And that obviously worked.
“Our kids get so excited,” assistant principal Julie Franczyk said. “I had a student who calculated how many more minutes he needed to read each day over the weekend to hit the goal he set for himself.”
Karen Lingis, PTA president, said she was impressed with the amount of effort that went into the read-a-thon.
“The support we’ve gotten from the teachers and the staff has overwhelmed us in a positive way and shown that there’s only one you, but if you group together and become this big team, look what you can accomplish,” she observed.
The overall endeavor involved about 80 volunteers who helped with tasks such as reading with students at the school and organizing the medal ceremony held at the read-a-thon’s conclusion.
“That’s sort of what I think makes this building and these efforts so successful, because there is such buy-in from everybody,” Shelly Belcher, school district communications coordinator, said. “We’ve heard such positive feedback across the board. Without that, it really wouldn’t be as wonderful as it is.”
Visitors to the school can stop on the way in to take a look at the rock garden, which will be added to annually by incoming kindergartners. Garvey views it as an enhancement of Bower Hill’s home-school connection.
“It gives the children the opportunity to have a gathering spot with their parents and look for rocks, year after year,” he said. “They can talk about what’s going on at school and talk about the importance of the rocks.”