Around the Schools
Hundreds celebrate Family Literacy Night at West Seattle Elementary
West Seattle Elementary celebrated Literacy Night Dec. 7 with hundreds of students, parents and families, community members, teachers, support staff, and administration in attendance.
The event was organized by the school’s Family Engagement Action Team (FEAT) – with support from the Building Leadership Team (BLT) – and a big push by fifth-grade teacher and FEAT member Tara Slinden.
After a shared meal and introduction by Principal Vicki Sacco, participants roamed the school’s hallways to see walls full of students’ literary-based artwork and writing samples. Guests added their thoughts on the school entrance’s community board on why they love to read.
In many of the classrooms, teachers hosted their own “Author’s Night” with interactive reading activities for families and students based on their favorite classroom books. Families learned specific hand-on strategies to help their children become better readers.
In addition to these activities, families had the opportunity to find literacy toolkits in multiple languages in the school’s new library (toolkits also available online). Literacy coaches and bilingual instructional assistants were available for additional instruction and to provide goal-specific recommendations in English, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese.
Meanwhile, an impressive book fair was open throughout the night with special guest Geronimo Stilton, a favorite literary character, brought to life. Geronimo Stilton is a talking mouse from the best-selling book series of the same name. The character works as a journalist and editor of the fictional newspaper "The Rodent's Gazette." Students got their pictures taken with him.
Students also were able to wander around looking through many books displayed on tables and shelves. At the end of the night, families were able to leave with books in hand and the tools to make reading meaningful and powerful for their children.