As part of the celebration of March Reading Month , Eastbury Elementary School held its annual Guest Reader Day last Tuesday .

Student council members began the day by interviewing the guests , including town and school officials and other volunteers . Questions they asked included what book was the guest’s favorite one to read as a child .

The students then escorted the readers to assigned classrooms , and introduced them to other students , using the information gathered in the interview .

Parent volunteer Tammie Azzara served as chairperson for Guest Reader Day , and coordinated the efforts with librarian Monica Gardner .

“ We focus on literacy all yearlong , ” Gardner said , “ but in March we do a lot of activities to emphasize the importance of literacy . To see an adult role model reading and enjoying a book with the children , there are several advantages . They get to know a little about the readers , then the student council members can be a little bit of a leader . ”

“ I think it’s a nice community effort , ” she said . “ We have parents involved with the students , as well as people form the community . ”

Gardner chooses the books , except that often the guest readers bring along their favorites .

Eastbury also added a wellness twist to the month of reading . “ Get Pumped For Reading” was the theme .

On Thursday , a family Reading and Fitness night took place . Parents and students took part in a block of reading time , then were split into two groups – one taking an aerobics dance class , the other going to the cafeteria where there were several activity stations .

Among them , a fitness station monitored heart rates , and a nutrition station had healthy snacks and recipes .

The month began with an assembly , wherein the students were taught two aerobic dances and given an overview of the reading activities .

An important piece during the month was “ drop everything and read , ” which is a time when all other activities are halted and students and staff schoolwide read a book .

Contact Steve Smith at ssmith@remindernet . com .