Shamrocks Springs Elementary brings children’s book to life
By EMMA QUASNY
“Shamrock Reads,” an annual event held at Shamrock Springs Elementary School, 747 W. 161st St., Westfield, created an immersive experience for students on Monday.
Going Places by Paul and Peter Reynolds came to life as teachers and middle school students dedicated their time to decorate the halls of Shamrock Springs as a surprise to students; however, that wouldn’t have been possible without the authors granting permission for free use of their content in the school.
For the past eight years, “Shamrock Reads” has been an annual tradition at Shamrock Springs Elementary to promote the reading and creativity both in an academic and personal setting. At the beginning of this tradition, books were purchased for each student’s family to encourage reading as much as possible between the student and their family, and then students would do an activity reflecting that book in the classroom.
Jodi Dubovich, instructional coach at Shamrock Springs and the leader of this initiative, said in recent years the school has changed this event for students.
“We flipped that model and now classrooms receive picture books that they will read to their students, and families will do the fun activities that support using your imagination, creativity, play, and most of all reading [at home],” Dubovich said.
This year, the theme of “Shamrock Reads” was “Reading Takes You Places” and the book Going Places perfectly reflected that theme.
“Going Places was chosen for Shamrock Reads because it teaches and promotes critical thinking, communication skills, collaboration and creativity,” Dubovich said. “We wanted our students to be immersed in this book about friendship and thinking outside of the box.”
Due to copyright restrictions, the print shop for Going Places refused to allow the book to be used in the school, but after hearing the teacher’s plans for this interactive experience for students, both the authors granted permission for the book to be used.
Paul and Peter Reynolds were enthusiastic to hear that Shamrock Springs wanted to bring their book to life for students and the community.
“This book has been activated by amazing creative teachers and students and it’s not only going to inspire the school, but the entire community and Paul and I are thrilled to see such creativity in action where the community not only experiences the story but also the message in the book, which is really important and potent for these times … to think outside of the box and to think of how to solve problems together,” Peter Reynolds said.
Shamrock Spring teachers are grateful that the authors granted permission for the use of their book and thankful for all the support they received setting up this event for students. Dubovich said students were shocked when they saw Going Places come to life.
“They were so surprised when they turned the corner and saw the hallway,” Dubovich said. “They kept pointing at different parts of the book and it is something that I will never forget. This has truly been an amazing experience from start to finish.”
Photo provided by Westfield Washington Schools