By Jessica Fink Tucker
Koontz Elementary School
Elizabeth Koontz would be proud. On March 2, her namesake school, Koontz Elementary, and her alma mater, Livingstone College, joined for a Reading Field Day.
The day began with a broadcast of Sidney Sessoms, director of bands, reading a story by Dr. Seuss to the student body. Next, the family of Terri Melton presented two bikes to the student body that will be used in a monthlong reading contest. Melton was a teacher assistant who died unexpectedly last year. Her love of students and reading made this contest an ideal way to honor her memory. At the close of the broadcast, the Livingstone Pep Band entertained the student body with a couple of lively tunes.
The daylong event allowed Koontz students to rotate through centers that modeled reading in everyday life. Each center had a representative from Livingstone College to read to the class. In the center for readers’ theater, students from Livingstone’s theater department had classes practice projection and reading with expression. Another center allowed classes to read a recipe and make a snack. In the P.E. center, Livingstone football players read a story to the class and then allowed them to play a relay game where the students had to spell words.
Livingstone students also read stories about quilts and their role in the Underground Railroad. In the last center, students were able to make a bookmark after being read a Dr. Seuss book.
The day was full of reading but what made the event such a success was the hearts of Livingstone’s students and faculty. One college student said, “I can relate to these kids because I grew up the same way. I want them to know that education is what matters.” Each of the 57 volunteers joyfully read and encouraged the students to work hard in school.
I think Elizabeth Koontz would be proud to know her spirit to educate still lives within her community.