HHS students, 9-12, started this year fresh with a new reading program in ELA classes. The new reading program was introduced to the teachers of HHS through a book called Book Love, by Penny Kittle. Penny Kittle is a teacher that had this idea to get her students to read more and actually enjoy it.

Book Love, where students spend ten minutes in class reading, was an idea ELA department chair Mrs. Laura Cummiskey was very fond of.

“The reading program is to first help students develop stamina,” said Cummiskey.

With the new reading program it requires students to read books. Cummiskey hopes students start to like reading, as well as read on their own time.

“It is also to help students develop a reading life,” stated Cummiskey.

Even though the rest of the teachers at HHS heard of this program through the book, Cummiskey heard about this program through a colleague at a different school. Since using this program, students reading numbers went up.

“Students have increased their reading by more than 85%,” proclaimed Cummiskey.

With the new reading program, the first floor teacher’s lounge has been turned into a first floor reading annex. The reading annex is filled with popular books that students can easily access during classes.

“The annex idea came from a need to have more books accessible on the ELA floor,” said Cummiskey.

The annex itself was being made through the summer and books are still being sent down by the library.

“We have a shelf of our favorites that we change every month,” informed 4th hour facilitator Hannah Misselhorn (12).

In addition to Misselhorn, the other student facilitators are: Jade Jameson (12), Angelina Jones (12), Clarissa Feeler (12), Amira Klokic (12), Audrey Borsch (11), and Cheyenne Cotner (11).

“I love reading,” said Hannah Misselhorn.

These students were picked by Cummiskey herself. These are students who love reading and know how to help students.

“It’s really relaxing and quiet, so you can come in and really be able to focus,” stated 5th hour facilitator Angelina Jones (12).

A normal day for these students are relaxing and quiet.

“It is a little slow right now,” said Misselhorn.

This is due to the lack of students using it early in the year. These members of the annex believe the annex that this could be very useful once students learn about it.

In addition to staffing the room, the facilitators go to classroom during the last five minutes to give book talks and discuss new additions.

“At first, going to classes was nerve-wracking. I wasn’t sure how the students would react, or if they would even listen to what I was saying,” Amira Klokic (12) said. “Nowadays, I feel like more students are more interested in the books that I’m talking about, and it feels like I’m making a real difference.”