Thursday was Literacy Night at St. Patrick Catholic School in Perry, with the school gymnasium filled with books, computers and — literally — letters.
Along with tables filled with a variety of word-centered games and activities, including a few also involving numeracy, the stage was filled with hundreds of titles on sale from Scholastic Inc., a $1.6 billion global publishing and education company.
A bank of laptop computers filled one table, where students could test drive some of the digital reading tutorials now in popular use. Another table was filled with Title I books, free to each student attending the Literacy Night.
Online registration in the Perry Public Library’s Summer Reading Program was also available, with Children’s Librarian Susanne Kestel and Deputy Director Misty Von Behren on hand to explain this year’s plans. Registration opened May 1, and summer reading will begin after spring classes end June 6.
St. Patrick School Principal Kandice Roethler said turnout for the annual pro-reading event was good, with the crowd thinning out at 6 p.m., when T-ball started, but swelling again before the 7 p.m. end.
