Celebrating the PARP Olympics in Babylon

Babylon Elementary and Memorial Grade School students celebrated literacy through a series of fun and educational activities this month. 

In coordination with the buildings’ K-6 PTA, the students took part in this year’s Parents as Reading Partners program, themed the “Olympics – Faster, Higher, Stronger.” Families at both schools were encouraged to make time daily to enjoy reading materials together and students were invited to take part in several themed events each week.

At the elementary school, students proudly dressed as their favorite story time character, wore their pajamas and brought their favorite bedtime story to school, had a teddy bear picnic with a cuddly stuffed animal, and enjoyed a breakfast of champions. 

The students kept track of the minutes they read on tally sheets – each of which included a set of 10 torches, each representing 15 minutes of reading. For each 150 minutes the students read, a colorful ring was placed on a display outside the cafeteria. The school’s reading goal was set at 32,000 minutes.

At the grade school, students and staff members also dressed up based on three theme days, were pictured on a “Get Caught Reading” display board after being “caught” in the act, took part in a read-a-thon and donated used books to local families as well as Reading Reflections or Amanda’s Book Rescue.

Both schools also teamed up for several buddying reading program days.

Photos provided by the Babylon School District