By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The students at Kenwood Elementary School were mesmerized as Sam the unhappy hall monitor was swallowed up by quicksand on the school playground.
Just as Sam was struggling to escape, the chapter ended, leaving the students wanting for more.
Bowling Green Fire Captain Dustin Bauman, who usually comes to schools with a fire engine and fire hose, came with books instead on Wednesday afternoon. He had the honor of reading aloud the first chapter of this year’s 1BookBG book to a gymnasium of rapt pupils.
“We’re going to leave Kenwood for a little bit,” Bauman said, setting the scene. “We’re going to go someplace else.”
That place, where all elementary students in Bowling Green will be traveling in their imaginations, is “Eerie Elementary – The School is Alive!” written by Jack Chabert, the pseudonym for children’s author Max Brallier.
When Bauman got to the end of Chapter 1, he told students that when they got back to their classrooms they would each get their own copy of the “Eerie Elementary” book. “We’ve got to find out if Sam’s OK,” Bauman said.
Every school year, elementary students across Bowling Green read a book by the same author, and take home their very own copy to keep. It’s become an annual celebration of the joys of reading, of families and the community.
Over the last 11 years, the 1BookBG program has given K-5 students in the city 15,000 books that they don’t have to return to their schools or library.
This year’s selection is fabulous, according to youth services coordinator Maria Simon, of Wood County District Public Library, who was greeted like a rock star at the Kenwood Elementary assembly on Wednesday.
Brallier’s books are a combo of spooky and funny – with a lot of action thrown in, Simon said. Brallier has written many books, including the “Last Kids on Earth” series, which has been made into a TV series by Netflix. So students will have a chance to explore the author’s stories beyond Eerie Elementary.
Simon told the students that 1BookBG shows how everybody in their community wants them to read.
“It’s really important to us that you’re reading,” she said.
Simon also revealed that the author wants to meet Bowling Green readers, and will be traveling here to talk with them at the library on Nov. 19, at 7 p.m., and at the schools on Nov. 20.
The secret to the 1BookBG success is the community’s immersion in the stories read by the students, Simon said.
“Everybody’s reading a book together,” she said.
And with any luck, the students will keep reading. “That’s what we want, is for them to find other books they like,” Simon said.
“I can tell you like funny books because you’ve got a lot of silly going on today,” she said to the crowded gymnasium. Wednesday was also “crazy hair day” at Kenwood, with some student sporting ‘dos adorned with a slinky, a nesting bird, colorful mohawks and autumn leaves.
Emily Bechstein, third grade teacher at Kenwood, told the students they would all receive a map of “mission sites” – local businesses helping out with 1BookBG – and a list of activities at the library.
Bechstein explained to the students their role in the program.
“Your job is to take that book home and read it,” she said.
As the assembly closed and students returned to their classrooms, Bechstein said was pleased with this year’s 1BookBG selection.
“We’re excited, it’s a good one,” she said, hinting that at some point, the school library “will come alive,” similar to Eerie Elementary. “We just want them to read more.”
After Bechstein passed out the books to her third graders, she didn’t have to shush the class. Nearly every nose was buried in the book.
“They really like reading,” she said with a smile.
Bringing the community together makes reading even more fun, the organizers of 1BookBG told the school board earlier this year.
“We have families reading together – sometimes for the first time,” explained Crim Elementary teacher Michelle Thomas, who teams up each year with fellow teacher Stacey Higgins to organize the city-wide event.
Higgins and Thomas talked about the magic of every elementary student in the city reading the same book at the same time. Families read together, classrooms connect, local businesses join in, and authors inspire future readers.
Besides reading together during the school day, the 1BookBG project travels outside classrooms. More than 14 community organizations get involved, and many businesses offer their stores as mission stops for elementary students. Students learn more about their community as they explore Bowling Green.
