By Linda Newman
Midway
Elementary celebrated their tenth annual Gallery of Stories with
“Hats off for Reading” as the theme. Students, parents,
and teachers volunteered to tell or read a favorite story. The
night began with Mrs. Fonda Harrison sharing a PowerPoint story
of It Could be Worse. She also shared some statistics about the
value of reading in the home. Attendees participated in two sessions
with an intermission between. They enjoyed a tenth anniversary
cake, cookies and punch.
This year’s tellers included some favorites from past years:
Junie B. Jones portrayed by media specialist, Becky Lee and The
Singers with their favorite Christmas carols. Mr. Adam Collins
was back this year with a selection of tales by Jon Scieszka including
The Frog Prince Continued and The True Story of the Three Little
Pigs.
Billie Sue Shaw, the Horizons teacher gave a super rendition of
Robert San Souci’s The Talking Eggs. Mrs. Janet McDaniel
and Mrs. Diana Delaney read a selection of stories both in English
and Spanish. The assistant principal, Kristan Morse shared Dear
Mrs. LaRue and was assisted by her husband, Chris and their dog,
Tucker.
Mrs. Fonda Harrison, the principal, shared Clever Beatrice and
Beware of Boys. Mrs. Lynn Bump shared The Great Kapok Tree and
Tree Man. A Bad Case of Stripes, Franny B. Kranny, You’ve
Got a Bird in Your Hair and Michelle Bennett and Kevin Smith shared
Yoshi’s Feast. The King, the Mouse and the Cheese was retold
by Mrs. Jan Gilmore.
Students wore their pajamas, favorite hats, and brought their
favorite stuffed animals and pillows. The local Burger King donated
paper crowns for those who wanted them. This tradition was started
to promote the love of reading and books and has traditionally
been the finale for the school’s National Children’s
Book Week.
This year, its founder, media specialist, Becky Lee, decided to
use the Gallery as the introduction to the school’s many
Book Week activities. Ms. Lee tells stories to all classes and
dresses as various characters each day. The younger children’s
favorite is Carmen Deedy’s The Library Dragon. Ms. Lee comes
with her dragon tail in tact just like the dragon in the story.
As part of Book Week, the Gallery continues to be a favorite tradition
of all that attend.
