MONSON — Throughout the month of October, Granite Valley School students are participating in Springfield Thunderbirds’ Stick to Reading program, which encourages literacy among young students.
Stick to Reading asks students to read at least 10-20 minutes each day during the 6 week program for a total of 19 days. Monson’s participation in the program is being organized by the parent teacher student association, Monson PTSA President Denise Newland told Reminder Publishing.
All students grades 1-6 have the opportunity to participate in the Stick to Reading program with all reading materials accepted toward minutes read, such as chapter books, graphic novels, magazines and picture books, Newland stated.
Once a student has read, they can record the date, minutes read and reading material title into their Thunderbirds log sheet. A parent’s signature is required to approve each entry on the log sheet. Students who complete all 19 entries will be able to meet the team’s mascot, Boomer, and attend a home game at the MassMutual Center for free as well as receive a bookmark and certificate from the team.
The Thunderbirds log sheets were distributed at Granite Valley on Sept. 18 with a collection date of Oct. 30. Students’ free tickets will then be available for the Springfield Thunderbirds’ game on Monson PTSA Fundraiser Night, Newland explained. During this game, students will be sitting together in a Center Value section. The game will be at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
In addition to students’ free tickets, families of participating students will be able to purchase discounted tickets for the Nov. 16 game at $25 each, Newland stated. These tickets can be purchased through a specific link that will be sent to families in November.
“I believe that encouraging a love of reading at an early age sets students up to be compassionate and self-motivated lifelong learners,” Newland said when asked why encouraging reading was important for young students. She noted that she has “already heard from many parents that their children are very excited and diligently doing their reading at home for this program.”
Newland encouraged families to help students pick reading materials that most interests in order to encourage them to complete the reading log sheet. As the children’s librarian for Monson Free Library, she also highlighted bringing students to the library, noting that it was a great way to “introduce them to different genres and styles of reading materials”
Other ways parents can encourage student reading is to schedule screen-free periods during the day for reading, read aloud with the student, or to read on their own as a model for the student, Newland said.
While Stick to Reading is currently the only reading program that Monson PTSA is helping to organize, Newland noted that there was a possibility of sponsoring a program for older students if there was interest and that the organization was looking to continue participating in Stick to Reading every year moving forward.
There was no cost for Granite Valley to participate in the Stick to Reading program, Newland said, explaining that the organization has worked with the Springfield Thunderbirds on hosting multiple fundraiser nights in previous years. “The Stick to Reading program is something new that they are offering this year so we were very excited to be invited to participate,” she emphasized.
The Monson PTSA will also be hosting its annual Trunk-or-Treat at Monson High School from 4-5:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, Newland said.
For more information about Granite Valley’s participation in the Stick to Reading program or about the school organization, contact the Monson PTSA by email at monsonptsa@gmail.com.
