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Mission Elementary School students exceed reading challenge

By B.L. Azure

The successful Reading TeePee Challenge resulted in these Mission Elementary School staffers spending Thursday night in tipis at the school. (B.L. Azure photo)

ST. IGNATIUS — Reading challenges the mind to transfer written narrative from its one-dimensional black and white presentation into multidimensional actions using the mind’s eye. It spurs the imagination and it is the bedrock foundation of success in school and consequently success in life after the formal education process.

Good reading skills are important not only for its literary value but also for better understanding of other subjects like the language arts, social studies, science, history and math — all subjects really. It also helps develop social skills and positive self-esteem.

And reading shouldn’t take a summer vacation because like a loose bike chain that can slip off the sprocket non-reading during the summer can result in a slip in comprehension and retention of knowledge learned the preceding school year. Consequently when school begins in the fall non-summer reading might find them selves slipping behind their peers’ comprehension abilities who read in the summer.

The Kindergarten through fifth grade ages is the prime age to instill reading comprehension and importance. One way to grease the learning wheel is to make the fundamental of reading fun as well as rewarding.

Throughout the school year the teachers and staff at Mission Elementary School promote reading with various outside the class reading contests that award reading accomplishments. Last week one such reading challenge for K-5 students came to an end.

According to Indian Studies teacher Geraldine Felix, The Reading TeePee Challenge established a set of reading goals for the students with the caveat that if the students met the goals members of the elementary faculty, staff and administration as well as the district superintendent would spend a night in a pair of tipis erected between the elementary and middle schools.

Mission Elementary School principal Cherie Stobie checks out the digs she and other school staffers spent last Thursday night in. (B.L. Azure photo)

“The challenge to the elementary kids was for them to read a certain number of pages or books appropriate for their grade levels,” Felix said. “Also part of the challenge was that the students had to write reports on the books they read.”

There were three goals set — two books, four books and six books — and each had a prize for accomplishing them.

Elementary school principal Cherie Stobie said the size of the books and/or reading articles were relative to each grade. Kindergarten students had to read books or print articles of at least 10 pages in length; the size grew by 10 pages for each grade with the fifth graders reading books or articles of at least 60 pages in length.

When all the students read two books each, teachers Tim Krantz, Dan Durglo and Lloyd Phillips had to spend a frigid night in the tipis.

When all of the students read four books each the first three were joined by staffers Aileen Plant and Susan Weaselhead, and elementary school principal Cherie Stobie.

When all the students met the third goal of six books School District 28 superintendent Bob Lewandowski had to join the other six in their overnight accommodations.

Stobie said the K-5 students exceeded the goals with gusto and as a result all seven of the aforementioned spent last Thursday night in the tipis.

They all had Indian-up in warm clothing in good sleeping bags around the portable fire pit in the middle of the largest tipi. The temperatures dipped to bone rattling 15-degrees that night.

The students’ reading accomplishments were also acknowledged at an assembly Thursday where prizes were also awarded.

Mission Elementary School principal Cherie Stobie and Indian Studies teacher Aileen Plant were caught cat napping or more appropriately Dawg napping in a tipi Thursday night. (B.L. Azure photo)

“The whole purpose of this challenge was to get students to read beyond what they are normally required to do in their respective classes,” Stobie said. “The kids were excited about the challenge and did very well, in fact they all surpassed the highest goal we set. In all the students read 1,400 books and wrote reports on them.”

Back in the day before the day reading outside of school was a common leisure activity. But in these modern times with numerous opportunities to wile away the time leisure reading has, to a large extent, fallen by the wayside.

“Reading is an important fundamental skill to education comprehension but kids probably don’t read enough outside of school, certainly not like they used to,” Stobie said. “They have so many other things available, like computers and video games, that occupies their time. That’s one reason we came up with this reading incentive. You really can’t read enough these days; the more reading the better.”

Stobie said it was the students’ idea for the staffers to sleep in tipis.

“A part of this idea was to provide some role reversal that put the kids in charge,” Stobie said. “We wanted them to tell us what to do and a part of that was them wanting us to spend a night in the tipis. It’s been a good experience for all.”

Stobie and Plant were the first ones to set up camp in the tipis Thursday evening. As the clock ticked away they wondered where their counterparts were.

“They are probably in the gym watching the basketball game,” Stobie pondered with shivering cadence.

Stobie said the next such outside the school learning incentive will be math related.

This Friday, Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. the elementary school will be hosting its “Top Dawg” assembly to acknowledge the academic achievements as well as the attendance of the elementary students.