Principal Scott Oshrin hopes that every Southdown Primary School student develops a genuine love for reading. If they do, the youngsters will never know boredom.
Mr. Oshrin and Southdown’s teachers believe that if students make reading a part of their daily activities, their lives will be filled with adventure and excitement and their vocabulary, writing, spelling, grammar, punctuation and foundation of knowledge in every possible area will grow by leaps and bounds.
Southdown students had a blast at Community Read-In Day this week as officials from across Huntington UFSD visited classrooms with their favorite books, sharing stories with eager youngsters spread across grades K-3.
The event kicked off Southdown’s Pick a Reading Partner program. “Learning to read is the single most important activity in a child’s education,” according to the New York State PTA, which sponsors the PARP initiative. “Studies show that children who read at home are better prepared to succeed in formal education.”
This week’s list of readers included Superintendent James W. Polansky, Assistant Superintendent Beth McCoy, Director of PE & Athletics Georgia D. McCarthy, Director of Guidance Kitty R. Klein, Director of Assessment, Instructional Technology & Elementary Math Marybeth Robinette, Director of STEM Jill Johanson, Human Resources Administrator Christopher Hender, English Language Arts Coordinator Angela Berner, Huntington High School Principal Brenden Cusack, Woodhull School Principal Traci Roethel, Jack Abrams STEM Magnet School Principal Donna Moro, Washington School Principal Michelle Richards and Mr. Oshrin.
“PARP is a program that asks a partner (parent, grandparent, babysitter, older sibling, cousin, friend, etc.) to read with a child for at least 20 minutes daily, stressing the fact that reading can be fun as well as informative,” according to the NYS PTA. “The choice of reading materials can vary from books to anything with printed words. The daily activity of reading together strengthens reading and communication skills in the child and strengthens their relationship.”
Southdown’s PTA is backing the initiative with its full support. Mr. Oshrin and his faculty and staff has worked hard to make this year’s program fun for students on every grade level.
“I would like to thank the PTA for always going above and beyond to make PARP an outstanding celebration for our students,” Mr. Oshrin said. “I would also like to thank the administrators who volunteered time from their busy schedules to enjoy a good book with the children at Southdown.”
