Chaparral High School’s librarians brought out a DJ music deck, scheduled the school orchestra and conducted a book genre musical chairs game Wednesday in a creative effort to grab students’ attention and promote reading.
Librarians Barbara Kelly and Jordan Davidson are on a mission to increase the third-year school’s library circulation and to beat the competition tied to its new reading log web application.
Like numerous schools in Killeen ISD and everywhere else, the Chaparral library is using the subscription app Bean Stack to help motivate students to read for pleasure.
Stepping away from a DJ music deck to address a group of English students in the library, Kelly made it clear that she wants the high school students to log more reading time than their peers across the school system.
Demonstrating Bean Stack on KISD’s Clever application, Kelly pointed out the current standings – Chaparral is on top, but Ellison High and Reeces Creek Elementary are closing in.
After learning about Bean Stack, students took part in the musical chairs game, walking among a dozen tables labeled with different genres like fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, romance and many others.
When the music stopped, students sat at a table and looked over the books until the music started again.
Most of the day, the game operated with DJ music. During one period, the school’s orchestra class provided the music.
English teacher Laura Snider appreciated the effort.
“I think it’s really awesome that they had the orchestra come in and play. It showcases the talents of the orchestra and exposes students who might not be exposed to this music and creates a great learning environment,” she said.
“It’s really unique. It’s real exciting. A lot of times they don’t get to choose what they read. When they have to read what doesn’t interest them, they lose interest in reading,” Snider said.
Currently, her senior English class is studying British literature, but she said she seeks student feedback and tries to interweave favorite genres into her classes.
“I believe most people who say they don’t like to read just haven’t found the story that interests them. I also encourage them to try other avenues like graphic novels and audio books.”
Sophomore Thomas Donnella also appreciated the librarians’ creativity and the chance to try out different book categories.
“I think it’s a very interesting way to find something you’ve never read before,” he said. “I picked up a dystopian book, which I’ve never thought about reading before.”
Donnella said he’s committed to reading and sees value in adding to his vocabulary. “I think (reading) is fun. I like to see the stories people come up with using their own imagination and mind.”
Reading increases test scores, improves vocabulary and writing skills, and, said Kelly, reading is good for your mental state. “It’s good for your soul,” she said.
Plus, the librarian pointed out, students at Chaparral have no limits to how many items they can check out and there are no late fees.
In its first year, the school library circulation reached 7,000 after receiving its book inventory halfway through the first semester. Last year, Chaparral’s circulation rose to 10,000.
This year, the school librarians are challenging students to check out 20,000 books and read them and log their reading time on the Bean Stack app.
“We’re trying to make it a little more fun,” Kelly said. “We want more readers and want them to do the reading challenge. We’re competing with every other school that has the app and we want to be No. 1.”
Check out photos from the CHS book tasting: https://www.flickr.com/photos/killeenisd/albums/72177720319877758/
