This past school year kindergarten students at T.G. McCord Elementary knocked the ball out of the park when it came to reading. Most students read over 100 books but two students, Annabelle Hurd and Rhea Snow, took that five steps further -- yep, they topped the 500-book mark!
That is an amazing feat and it doesn’t happen if not for the girls receiving encouragement and support to read at home.
“My mom helps me read,” said the blonde-haired, Annabelle, who was in Jennifer Newcomer’s kindergarten class. “It is fun to learn and read.”
“My grandma makes me read,” the dark-haired Rhea said, before adding, “but I like to read. I like reading about different things.” Rhea was in Emily Duncan’s kindergarten class.
While they both read over 500 books this year as kindergarteners, both came up with an answer when asked if they had a favorite book.
Rhea, the daughter of Steven and Corina Snow, answered with a shy smile, “My favorite is ‘Cat in the Hat’. I like Dr. Seuss.”
With a bubbly giggle, Annabelle, the daughter of Patrick Hurd and step-mother Tiffany Delos Santos, responded, “I like ‘Pete the Cat’. It’s funny. He gets into all kinds of trouble.”
While they plan on enjoying the summer and having plenty of fun, both youngsters vigorously shook their heads yes when asked if they were going to continue to read during the summer.
“Summer reading is critical for students (at any grade level) to retain the knowledge and reading skills they have worked so hard to gain,” said Randilyn Mayo, the McCord Kindergarten Interventionist. “We urge parents, grandparents and other family members to make time to sit down and read with their children. They can read a page and then have the child read a page to them. Then ask questions and talk about what they’ve read.”
The local Carnegie City-County Library has a wonderful summer reading program for children, and have a variety of special events throughout the summer as well. The library is open Tuesday thru Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
To find out about all the summer programs and activities the library offers, call 940-552-2462, or checkout its Facebook page.