Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

On Thursday, March 2, throughout the Southampton County Public Schools District and nationwide, students were celebrating Read Across America Day. Southampton High School’s Student Council Association (SCA) members read to students from kindergarten to fifth grade. 

Read Across America is a national reading initiative launched in 1998 by the National Education Association (NEA). Though Read Across America is a year-round program, March 2, is designated to celebrate reading activities. Individuals, local communities, and schools are encouraged to take part in reading a book socially, virtually, or independently. Southampton High School’s (SHS) Biology Teacher and SCA Sponsor, Dr. Candice Artis, noted,”One of our initiatives is to reach out to our community. The executive board members, which includes the president and the class representatives, came out to read to the kids today. I was able to observe the students [SCA members] were doing an excellent job. They went above and beyond.”

Southampton High School’s chemistry teacher and SCA sponsor, Kristen Person agreed with Dr. Artis. The two sponsors accompanied the SCA students as they boarded a school bus to take them to each school. Before going to school, Artis and Person gave the high schoolers a pep talk, affirmed them, and provided them with valuable talking points. One of the students, tenth-grader Nevaeh Greene, conquered her fears of public speaking by reading to the students at Capron Elementary School. “I am shy. I normally would not do something like this without my mom or someone I know. They [ Dr. Artis and Person] encouraged me to speak up. They taught me how to be myself and accountable,” Greene shared.

“Reading Across America is more than just reading. It is about being a leader. The older students let the younger students know, ‘I once was in your shoes, and look at me now. I am exceeding and doing well, and you can do the same thing,” Person stated confidently.

Greene read the book Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, Said The Sloth by Eric Carle to a kindergarten class at Capron Elementary School. After reading to them, Greene asked the kids about their favorite animals, bugs, and colors.