Pau-Wa-Lu students celebrate love of reading

Despite all the 21st century's electronic wizardry and video game galore, some students at Pau-Wa-Lu Middle School still prefer the printed word.

In fact, some students crave it, devouring books as if they were slices of pepperoni pizza.

"I started reading at an early age and was hooked," said 12-year-old Andrew Brockhage.

Andrew is only a seventh-grader but already the second highest scorer in the school's prime reading program, coming in with 354 points on Dec. 16. Freshman Shawn Coburn ranked first with 407.3 points.

"It (reading) just appeals to me," Andrew said nonchalantly.

He was one of about 50 seventh-ninth-graders honored at a party in the school's library for students who've earned more than 100 points in the reading program.

The afternoon bash was organized by Pau-Wa-Lu librarian Susan Bullard and seventh-grade English teacher Lorna Doerr.

"In our accelerated reading program, each book has an assigned point value, and the students take a test after reading the book," explained Bullard, who started at Pau-Wa-Lu this year after working at both Douglas High School and Jacks Valley Elementary.

Doerr said all students have a prime reading period for about 30 minutes each day. A student's prime reading performance makes up a percentage of their overall English grade, she said. Students accumulate points throughout the grading period with a target score of 28 points for seventh-graders, 50 points for eighth-graders and 60 points for ninth-graders.

"They're really good, smart kids, and they respond to competition," Doerr said. "Ultimately, a good reader is a life-long reader."

Earlier in the year, Bullard and Doerr decided to recognize those young bibliophiles going above and beyond expectations. Thus, the teachers founded the 100-point hall of fame.

"At first, a couple of kids brought in frames for the pictures, but we quickly ran out of frames," Bullard said. "Now, it's hard to keep track of them all."

On Dec. 16, the 100-pointers indulged in cookies, cupcakes and fruit punch, among other confections, as a reward for their dedicated reading.

Anyone doubting that dedication only had to watch 15-year-old freshman Hailey Chappell picking up her treats with one hand, while eyeing a cracked-open hardback novel in the other.

"Ever since the third grade, I've really loved reading," Hailey said, "so much that even my teachers have told me, 'Hey, get your nose out of that book.'"

The novel gripped in Hailey's hand was Suzanne Collins' thriller "Catching Fire." Another work by the same author, "Hunger Games," is one of Hailey's favorite books, along with the "Eragon" and "Twilight" series.

Andrew was a little more reluctant to name his favorite title or series.

"It's pretty impossible to say what my favorite book is," he said. "I do like fantasy."

Andrew also likes S.E. Hinton's classic novel "The Outsiders," which he just finished reading in English class.

Andrew and Hailey also said they prefer old-fashioned books to electronic readers and digital formats.

"I like paper and ink the best," Andrew said.

Bullard said her library has some titles in MP3 format to assist readers who benefit from audio. However, she said students still must read the physical book to earn points.

"It's a neat time right now because young adult literature is exploding with such cool stuff," Bullard said. "It used to be that we had only a few classics, but now there are all these books that students can relate to, books about sports or family or bullying, and a lot of fantasy."

Doerr lauded her "super star" coworker for making the library "a place where kids want to go."

"She (Bullard) works hard, connects to the kids, talks to them about books and makes herself available," Doerr said. "She's just fantastic, and she's probably too humble about it."