By JESSA PEASE / Staff Writer

PELHAM— Students in Pelham dressed up as vocabulary words, designed book covers, performed monologues and more to commemorate National Literacy Day Sept. 8.

“It’s a day for people worldwide to focus on the importance of literacy and to raise the awareness for the people who don’t have access to education,” said system Instruction Specialist Shannon Bogert. “We wanted reinforce to our students that they do have the opportunity to have an education and they do have the opportunity to read and write.”

Each of the four schools— Valley Elementary and Intermediate, Riverchase Middle and Pelham High— found ways to celebrate Pelham’s access to education.

Elementary school students designed book covers and their teachers read several books out loud to create discussion topics relating to their course study.

Vocab words were the focus at Valley Intermediate, and everyone, including teachers, dressed up to represent words. The school also collected books to be donated to children in Africa.

“They had a great time,” Bogert said. “I was at Valley Intermediate School that morning when the parents were dropping off their kids at the front door, and they were all just so excited to see their teachers dressed up, seeing each other and everybody was trying to guess what vocab word they were. It was cute.”

Students at the middle school selected their favorite passages from books and performed them as monologues on a stage. Bogert said it was part of the students’ listening and speaking curriculum.

Pelham High School students were able to incorporate technology into their Literacy Day celebration with an interactive Twitter board. Bogert said the students tweeted out information about their favorite books and their favorite quotes.

She said it was enjoyable to see the students start discussions on the books they love to read rather than assigned ones. Sometimes students miss out on reading for pleasure with schoolwork, Bogert said, but this gave them an opportunity to focus on their favorites.

This is the first year Pelham participated in National Literacy Day, and Bogert said they already have the date on their calendar for next year as well. She also encouraged everyone to continue reading and to take advantage of the opportunities they have.

“It’s important for them to be able to celebrate that fact and to be aware at the same time that there are a lot of kids and a lot of adults in other parts of the worlds that don’t have the same luxuries,” she said.