Daviess County High School is offering an innovative summer reading program for students who will enter grades 9-12 next year.
“DCHS #SunsOutBooksOut” not only encourages students to read books recommended for each grade level, but also provides a variety of interactive ways to share the experience with their peers. Students may participate in an on-line or face-to-face conversation; or post a creative Instagram or Vine about the book.
Twitter chats and simultaneous “real life” meetings are scheduled from 7 to 8 p.m. June 22 at Books-A-Million; July 20 at The Crème; and Aug. 10 at Wasabi 54.
“We are trying to engage students in their own mediums, where they live,” said Dr. Angela Gunter, DCHS dean of liberal arts. “We are not sure what to expect, but we are excited about the possibilities. We want DCHS students to be proud to say ‘My summer is booked!’ ”
Gunter noted that reading provides many benefits, including increasing the reader’s intellectual capacity. In addition, reading inherently improves writing skills, and studies have proven that reading fiction helps to develop a sense of empathy.
As an added incentive, each time a student attends or participates in a chat, s/he will be entered in a drawing for an iPad mini. Students who read at least one book, attend at least one on-line or face-to-face meeting and post an Instagram or Vine will also be eligible to attend a movie adaptation of a book at the Malco Theater during school at the beginning of the upcoming school year (possibly “Paper Towns,” depending on release date).
Parents and members of the community are also invited to join in the readings and meetings, or just to follow along for announcements and related messages:
· Facebook – DCHS Suns Out Books Out
· Twitter – follow @DCHSSunsOutBooksOut
· Instagram – @DCHS_SOBO
· For Remind 101 updates, text @sunsout to 81010
Recommended reading lists for each grade level are as follows:
Freshmen – Into the Wild, The Joy Luck Club, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Namesake
Sophomores – Paper Towns, Into the Wild, The Devil in the Shape of a Woman, The Joy Luck Club
Juniors – The Book Thief, The Poisonwood Bible, The Things They Carried, Black Like Me, The Right Stuff
Seniors – How to Read Literature Like a Professor, Ballad of the Sad Café, Things Fall Apart, The Round House, The Kite Runner
Funding for this project is provided by the DCHS Youth Service Center, which has purchased 200 copies of Summer Reading books to give to students who might otherwise not be able to buy them. The books may be kept, donated back to the program, or traded in for another book at any of the Book Chats.
