Baxter Elementary School Celebrates Read Across America Week

The last week of February is Read Across America week, and students in the Brainerd Public School District are celebrating in unique ways.

Read Across America was founded in 1998 and is an annual reading motivation and awareness program that calls for every community to celebrate reading in honor of Dr. Seuss’ birthday, which is on March 2. Baxter Elementary School held an assembly to kick off the week and chose four books for classes to focus on during the week.

“We kicked off the week with an assembly that gathered all the kids together and we were able to talk about the books that we were going to be reading this week. Each classroom reads four books, so the whole school is reading the same four books and at the end of the week the kids get to vote,” said Renee Leonard, Baxter Elementary 2nd Grade Teacher and Literacy Coach.

The month of February is “I Love To Read” month and for Baxter Elementary, it is a great opportunity to remind students and families about the importance of reading. The school has been celebrating Read Across America week for the last few years, and it has been a huge hit with the students.

“Reading is so important. It’s so important for kids to find books that they enjoy reading and become lifelong readers. Along the road, reading will help them in every area of their academics, and it’s fun,” added Leonard. “We want kids to enjoy reading and seek out books that they like.”

The staff at Baxter Elementary School encourages parents and guardians to read with their students for at least 20 minutes every night to help them grow as readers.