By Tess Malijenovsky
Beaufort High School extended its annual Teen Read Week sponsored by the American Library Association to celebrate the joys of reading. The host of activities provided an environment for students to share their love of books artistically and express themselves in written and spoken poetry. “It’s important that [the students] have a place to express themselves, and that this event provides just the right atmosphere for all kids to feel comfortable,” said Joe Taylor, Beaufort High School English teacher.
One of the keynote events was the Book Quotation Poster Contest in which participating students were asked to create a digital poster containing their favorite book quotation, the title and author of the book, and the words TRW 2011. Forty-six posters were submitted in total, a large portion of which came from Todd Stowe’s Graphic Arts class. The school district’s media specialists judged the posters and nominated Valencia King as the Grand Prize winner. Valencia’s poster was an original art poster depicting the Weasley brothers from “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” with the quote, “I solemnly swear I am up to no good!”
The student body also got the chance to a vote for their favorite Book Quotation Poster in the “People’s Choice Award” category. Andrew Glick took the cake, or in this case a $25 gift certificate for books, for his poster from the fantasy book “Eragon.” Honorable mentions went to Roeshawn Braswell for the title “IT” and to Karisma Porter for the book “Impulse.”
A poetry slam also went down during lunchtime, during which students could recite their favorite published or self-written poem for pizza and drinks in the media center. Forty-eight students showed up in what proved to be an introspective exposé of teen talent. The students bravely and creatively shared their thoughts and feelings about their individual “journey” through the teen years.
What was said to be the most popular activity during Teen Read Week was the “Guess the Bookworms” contest, in which students guessed the number of gummy worms in a large jar for a chance to not only receive the all the gummy worms but also a $10 certificate for a book. Charmaine Singleton and Jake Snyder split the worms having both guessed the correct number, but each got their own gift certificate.
These Teen Read Week activities were planned by the Media Center Teen Advisory Board, comprised of students from each grade level and each small school at Beaufort High School, and sponsored by media specialists Leah Roche and Vicky Bradley. The board did a tremendous job making reading fun for everyone in their school.
