Hundreds of Hillsborough County Public Schools students celebrated the joy of reading with Florida’s First Lady Ann Scott at Strawberry Crest High School, kicking off Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida 2016.
Superintendent Jeff Eakins, Board Members, and some very special guests joined more than 700 students at Strawberry Crest High School. Tomlin Middle School, Orange Grove Middle Magnet School, Bailey Elementary School, Cork Elementary School, and Lutz Elementary School helped launch a week of engaging and fun activities that celebrate literacy.
During the pep rally style event, students recognized the importance of literacy through songs, dance, skits, and oral interpretation of America’s founding documents. Lutz Elementary in particular, performed a three-part vignette, titled Celebrating America’s Story.
In addition to Bailey Elementary participating in the day’s events, the school will also represent Hillsborough County Public Schools in Tallahassee as a state finalist to the Literacy Changes Our World civics project which focused on collecting home libraries for their migrant students. According to K-12 Chancellor Hershel Lyons, “We celebrate the civics part of today’s event to get people excited about reading.”
For the sixth consecutive year, Florida’s First Lady, Ann Scott, has celebrated literacy week by reading to students in schools throughout the state. Students are encouraged to set aside 20 minutes every day to read. In their remarks at the kickoff event, Chancellor Lyons, Mrs. Ann Scott, and Superintendent Eakins all stressed the importance of reading. Mrs. Scott emphasized the take away of this celebration by saying that reading is fundamental to the success of our students in school and at home.