“Learning to Read - A Roadmap to Your Future”  
Some kids are natural born readers.  They are identifying words long before they enter the school door.  Reading for them is an easy process, and for most of them reading becomes a lifelong joy!  For other kids reading is a challenge.  They may be acquiring a new language in the process of learning to read.  They may have a learning disability.  Or they simply may not be as interested in reading as other activities.  Instead of looking at a child’s ability to learn to read as an indicator of future success, may I suggest another viewpoint?  Consider this; the process of learning to read can become a road map as to what career your child can pursue.  For example, the child that is a strong reader may be motivated to become an author, while the child that finds reading a challenge may become a sensitive teacher who understands their students’ needs.

This month we will be exposing our students K-5 to their opportunities for the future with hopes of motivating them to develop and use their reading skills.  The week of May 21^st marks our annual Literacy Week.  This year’s theme is “Careers”.  We will be inviting guest readers from our community to share with students what their work life is like and how they found their path to their chosen career.  Our teachers will be asking students to think about their skills and their interests in the hopes of helping them to target their future goals and in the process showing them how the skills learned today will help them down the road.

We hope that during Literacy Week you will make your dinner conversations an extension of our school to career focus. Ask your kids which presenters they found most interesting.  Even kindergarten students are sure to have an opinion and while their notion of what they want to be when they grow up will change many times you will be helping to make the connection between what they are learning to do today and how they can mold their future.