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Riverview gets a jump on Right to Read Week

Teacher Jamie Dickerson measures Hannah Bailey's bubble while Bryan Henderson looks on during Riverview Elementary School's Right to Read Week kick-off Monday morning.

staff photo by Richard O Jones Teacher Jamie Dickerson measures Hannah Bailey's bubble while Bryan Henderson looks on during Riverview Elementary School's Right to Read Week kick-off Monday morning.

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By Richard O Jones, Staff Writer 6:19 PM Monday, February 6, 2012

HAMILTON — It was a candy-coated Monday morning at Riverview Elementary School as the entire student body gathered for a Right to Read Week kick-off.

Although the official Right to Read Week, a program of Ohio Council of the International Reading Association, isn’t until May, Riverview got a jump on it to go along with the Hamilton City School District’s Fill That Bus food drive, which also started Monday

The Riverview Right to Read Week theme: “Reading Is Sweet.”

So the morning assembly saw students and teachers competing in a bubble gum bubble-blowing contest and a dozen teachers going head-to-head to identify various candy bars while blindfolded.

“Right to Read Week is a time for us to stop what we’re doing and appreciate reading and how smart we can be for books,” said coordinator Jamie Dickerson.

Each day this week, every teacher will submit one or two “sweet readers” - students who are reading the most or trying the hardest - to be entered into a drawing for a candy gift bag at the end of the week.

Students who bring in canned goods are also able to participate in special events related to both reading and food, including a Willie Wonka hat day and on Friday a “Wackiest Weirdest Wonka Wear” event to coincide with a screening of “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”

The district is hoping to engage the entire city this year during its annual Fill That Bus food drive, which runs through Friday.

“We wanted to make this more of a community effort to help generate some pride in the city,” she said. “We’re inviting people to drop off canned foods and personal hygiene items at any of the schools.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 820-2188 or rjones@coxohio.com.

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