McNinch Elementary School Students Participate in Global Read for the Record Campaign | News, sports, jobs

Photo by: Emma Delk

Marshall County Schools literacy coach Jeannie Blake reads to students at McNinch Primary School as part of the Read for the Record campaign.

Students at McNinch Elementary School joined 2.5 million people worldwide on Wednesday to read the same book as part of Jumpstart’s Read for the Record 2024 campaign.

McNinch’s kindergarten and second grade students participated in the record-breaking reading campaign, supported by community readers who stopped by their classrooms to read “Piper Chen Sings” by Phillipa Soo.

Wednesday marked the 10th year Marshall County Schools participated in the program. Last year, the district’s students joined 2.3 million people from 11 countries and 50 U.S. states reading the same book on the same day.

Each class participating in the campaign reads the same book on record day. Books from previous Read for the Record campaigns remain on teachers’ bookshelves for future students to enjoy.

“I learned about Jumpstart as a nonprofit even before the county joined the Read for the Record campaign,” said Jeannie Blake, literacy supervisor for Marshall County Schools. “I admire what they do. I like that we put books into the hands of little children. That’s the important part.”

First-grader Heather Haught felt her students’ excitement this week leading up to the record-breaking day. She added that a student picked up a previous Jumpstart Read for the Record campaign book from her classroom shelf this week, which prompted her to explain the program to her students.

“He took the book out and asked me, ‘Do you want to read this to us?'” Haught remembers. “I had to explain to the class that a few years ago everyone read this book on the same day. That’s what makes today special for the students: everyone is reading the same book and having the same experiences as themselves.”

This year the goal was 2.5 million readers, with community readers traveling between classrooms at McNinch to read to as many students as possible. Students in each room gathered around the reader as they taught students how to overcome butterflies in their stomachs using the story of “Piper Chen Sings.”

Blake said she would count the number of students local volunteers read to at McNinch throughout the day and report the number to the nonprofit.

Although Wednesday was the official record day, Blake and the community readers also stopped at other schools in the county over the next few weeks to read to students.

“That’s what gets the kids excited about reading because today it’s all about the books,” Blake said. “The book we are reading is multicultural, which is great. There are some Japanese words in the book that we have to practice pronouncing, which is a bit fun when trying to get the kids to understand these words properly.”

After the reading, teachers conducted follow-up activities with students around the story. Haught noted that during lunch and recess, she often overheard students from different classrooms discussing the book with each other.

Haught added that she may incorporate more previous Jumpstart books into her reading time with students to “create more excitement” when record day arrives.

“Today gets the kids excited about reading and encourages them to enjoy the exercise more,” Haught said. “This is another opportunity for them to capitalize on that forward momentum and develop good language and literacy skills in the classroom and at home as they get older.”