More titles, theme, extra credit new for next year
Photo Credit: Austin Montag
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May 17, 2010 • By Taylor Petersen
Filed under News
NDP Reads kicks off its second year by offering multiple selections at the beginning of summer as opposed to the beginning of the school year.
Created by English Department Chair Mrs. Lyn Richmond last fall, the goal of “NDP Reads” is to promote school-wide reading. For this year, she and Librarian Mrs. Lillian Vancel have selected a theme and recommended four book for students, faculty and parents to read and reflect on.
The books for 2010-2011 will be The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards, Dreamcatcher by Stephen King, Riding the Bus with My Sister by Rachel Simon and The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. Students may receive English extra credit for next year by reading one of the books and completing a writing assignment.
The selected theme for the upcoming school year involves protagonists or other characters dealing with the impact of a disability. The theme was inspired by the Saints for Life Club, which has the outlook that all kinds of people should be recognized, even those not prevalent at NDP. In the words of Mrs. Vancel, the theme choice is a “celebration of life.”
Mrs. Anna Cameron, who worked with Mrs. Richmond and Mrs. Vancel on this year’s selections, said, “As a moderator of the Saints for Life club, I was concerned about bringing awareness to all groups within our community who are sometimes marginalized or not appreciated for the beauty they contribute to our life just by being alive!”
The four titles are being recommended instead of one like this year in order to appeal to a larger audience. Although they had plenty of participation with the one book, the sponsors say they hope that by expanding the selection and time period, participation will grow exponentially.
Mrs. Richmond explained, “Throughout the year, we are planning activities to support children with learning disabilities as well as book talks. The activities will involve several groups here at school, NHS, Saints for Life, etc.”
Mrs. Richmond said she believes NDP Reads was successful for its first year and that she hopes to gain even more participation in the upcoming school year.
This year, the chosen book was Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. There was school-wide participation, especially with the related, Pennies for Peace. The campus-wide collection raised more than $2,000 for the author’s charity, the Central Asia Institute, which builds schools in remote parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan to promotes literacy and peace.
According to Mrs. Richmond, students will be encouraged to read the offered books during both the summer and the school year as opposed to only one month while school is in session. NDP Reads this year was during the month of October.
Mrs. Richmond added, “We offered more than one book because we felt that we wanted to provide a variety of books for all reading interests. We have included some that will appeal to men and some to women.”
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