No matter your age, there is something enchanting about having a story read to you.
And Hubbard Elementary School’s annual Read-In was the perfect setting for members of the community to share the joy of reading with young people.
Parents, members of the military, athletes, and school district and government officials came to Hubbard on Friday, Jan. 26 to read to students in honour of Family Literacy Day, an event established in 1999 by ABC Life Literacy Canada, which occurs every Jan. 27.
Students “look forward to it a lot because there are all kinds of different people that come from different professions and different areas of the community,” said Hubbard Elementary School Vice-Principal Cindy Miller.
“The hockey players are always a big hit,” Miller said. “The kids are always excited to see them, and they want their autographs.”
Reading to students resonated with Fredericton Riverview Ford Red Wings defenceman Jake Tracey.
“I used to go to this school so it’s kinda nice to come back and give back to the community,” said Tracey.
He and four of his Fredericton Riverview Ford Red Wings teammates participated in the event, even playing hockey with students on the playground during recess.
“I did this last year, and it was a pretty good experience,” he said.
During the event, adults read to students in two 20-minute periods divided by recess. The author had the pleasure of reading Barbara Reid’s The Subway Mouse to two groups of enthralled, inquisitive Grade 3 students.
And RCMP Officer John Daley shared several Skippyjon Jones books with students, books he read to his own son when he was young.
“They’re American books and they use a lot of Spanish to get kids’ ears attuned to Spanish,” Daley said. “He knew it was a different language when he was young because he was in French immersion, so his brain was already expanding that way and he thrilled to it.”
When Daley informed his now 14-year-old son that he would be reading to elementary school students, “he said, ‘Dad, you really should read [Skippyjon Jones books] to them’. It warmed my heart when he said that.”
Grade 4 student Adeline Hogeveen liked Robert Munsch’s book I Love You Forever, with illustrations by Sheila McGraw.
“It was about this mother who helped her newborn baby,” she said.
Hogeveen, who reads graphic novels and chapter books at home, would love to see more of her fellow students finding joy in reading—the purpose of the read-in.
“Not a lot of kids are reading [at home] and I think reading is important, kinda like writing,” she said.