Wantagh’s young learners were inspired to make reading a lifelong habit during the 16th annual World Read Aloud Day on Feb. 5. Elementary students were visited in person and virtually by guest readers, including their older peers from the middle school and high school, as well as teachers and administrators. 

Director of Humanities Julie Rosslee brought the World Read Aloud Day program to the district seven years ago to be a shared literacy experience across the district’s five schools. It is now a highly-anticipated event, as elementary school students look forward to the read-alouds. 

“It’s a great experience on both ends,” Ms. Rosslee said, noting that the middle school and high school students enjoy sharing the books they loved as young children. It’s hardly a secret, she added, that children’s books are not just for children, and the messages and elements of a story impact people differently at different ages. 

Because the World Read Aloud Day program has been around for several years in the district, many of the secondary students now reading the books aloud were once on the other end as listeners. It is also exciting for the elementary teachers, Ms. Rosslee said, to see their former students. 

Teachers from the secondary schools signed up to have their students read virtually to classes at Forest Lake, Mandalay and Wantagh elementary schools throughout the day. Additionally, nine students from the National English Honor Society, advised by Alisa Lopera, traveled to the three elementary schools to read in person to kindergarten, first and second grade classes.

Several administrators also made the journey to the elementary schools. Superintendent John McNamara could be found reading “The Day the Crayons Quit” at Wantagh Elementary School, while the three fifth grade classes at Forest Lake simultaneously welcomed Executive Director for Human Resources Dr. Stephanie Scolieri, high school Principal Dr. Paul Guzzone and middle school Principal Anthony Ciuffo. 

“World Read Aloud Day is about sharing the gift of reading,” Ms. Rosslee said. “It brings all of our students, administrators and faculty together for a unified message about the importance of reading. I can’t imagine something better than that.”