This year Merrimac Elementary School’s Pick A Reading Partner (P.A.R.P.) program ran through the month of March. This program includes all grade levels and the requirements are that each student reads 15-30 minutes a day or more throughout the entire month. Students may read on their own, or be read to by a parent or guardian, a friend, a sibling, or another adult in order to qualify for the program. Our schoolwide goal was to read 157,000 minutes throughout the month…our highest goal ever!
This year, two students from Ms. Guider’s 4th grade class, Matthew Rotolo and Nicholas Davidson and three students from Mrs. Meade’s 5th grade class, Cate Holton, Alyssa Khan, and Gianna Costigan created a service learning project entitled Read to Salute to tie into P.A.R.P. This project enabled P.A.R.P. participants to connect our schoolwide goal while being empowered to help others in need. Their idea was simple: they wanted to collect food, toiletries, and other items to send to the soldiers who are not able to be with their families and enjoy all the luxuries of home.
The group came up with the idea Read to Salute for this service learning project because all of the students have family members or ancestors in the armed forces. They decided to do this fundraiser because the soldiers aren’t always at home with their families and they don’t always have the proper supplies they need. The students wanted the troops to “feel like they are at home.” All five students presented their idea through a PowerPoint presentation during two schoolwide assemblies. They informed the student body about what their goals were and what the school could do to help.
Sean Peek, a student from Mrs. Greve’s fourth grade class stated that he felt that this project had an impact on our entire school because in his opinion it “helped our school develop more leaders.” Students really took an important role in organizing this project, assigning grade level donations, bringing in items for the troops, writing letters, etc.
In an effort to include as many students as possible the following plan was developed: students in grades K-2 who read at least 240 minutes earned a blank card or special letter paper to write a message for the troops. Their cards and letters were then deposited in a special mailbox located in the school’s lobby to be sent off to the troops with each of our care packages Students in grades 3-5, who read 150 minutes per week each earned one raffle ticket each week for a chance to help assemble the care packages for the troops.
In addition, the students created a donation chart in which specific grade levels were responsible for bringing in certain items to fill the care packages. This system ensured that a variety of items were being collected to support the different needs and wants of the troops. Donations were collected in Merrimac’s lobby and were later sorted in preparation of the care package assembly. Ava Lovergine, a 4th grade student from Mrs. Greve’s class wrote a letter to the soldiers and commented that, “This project inspired me because the soldiers do a lot for our country and I felt like the Read To Salute program was a good way to return the favor by donating different types of things.”
At the completion of P.A.R.P. students’ names were chosen through the raffle and they assembled 11 care packages for the soldiers. In each box was a variety of items including floss, toothpaste, deodorant, chapstick, batteries, nail clippers, candy, body wash, playing cards, ear buds, K-cups, granola bars, as well as a variety of other snacks and essentials the troops would need. The care packages were completed by placing a stack of the cards and letters written by our students right on top. TSgt Matthew Davidson (Technical Sargent) from the 106th Rescue Wing and father of Nicholas Davidson, then came and picked up the care packages from the school to send them off.
Cate Holton, one of the project leaders shared, “At the end I knew that I had done something that would help the soldiers greatly.” Alyssa Khan, another project leader noted, “It makes me feel proud of myself knowing I made a huge difference to some very special people.”
Merrimac school principal, Mrs. DeCicco stated, “This year’s PARP project, READ to Salute, was quite impressive. The students synergized to benefit the troops, promote schoolwide reading, and involve the entire Merrimac community. These students came up with a service learning project that incorporated vision, goal setting, and measurable results. Their project shows the impact students can have when they are provided with opportunities to lead. I am very proud of them and their hard work.”
Not only were the Merrimac students successful in reaching the schoolwide goal of helping to support our troops, but they also surpassed their goal of reading 157,00 minutes. “We had a large number of students participate in P.A.R.P. this year…more so than any other year in the past. Students really were inspired and worked hard to read a ton so that they could earn a blank card or a raffle ticket for a chance to participate in assembling the care packages. Not only did we collect a great amount of donations but the students collectively read for 159, 578 minutes making this our most successful P.A.R.P. event ever!” stated P.A.R.P. committee chairperson and school librarian, Lisa Martinez. “We were thoroughly impressed not only with the amount of reading that was done this month, but by the willingness and excitement of all of the students to participate.”
-Submitted by Lisa Martinez, Merrimac Library Media Specialist
