Literacy Goes Hog Wild in Arkansas

Literacy is a serious issue at St. Paul Elementary School in the Huntsville district in Arkansas. Their promotion of reading at all grade levels in this K-6 school, however, takes everyone for a walk on the lighter side. “We were looking for a way to engage our kids…to get them reading…and 6th grade teacher, Anita Lawrence, came up with ‘Got Books?’ last year,” said Susan Stevens, principal of St. Paul Elementary.

Got Books?
A take-off on the famous Got Milk?® advertising campaign, the idea was an immediate hit. They printed t-shirts for the teachers to wear at Open House as a kick-off. The front of the shirt said, “Got Books?” and the back was imprinted with the words, “We do!” They put up a bulletin board with photos of the teachers wearing their t-shirts and holding up their favorite books. Each teacher, of course, has an obvious milk mustache.

The plan itself was simple: The school’s Literacy Lab program set individual student goals and a school goal of 4000 books to be read. Ms. Stevens promised to milk a cow in front of the entire student body if the school met its goal. Students who reached their individual goals each received their own t-shirts, purchased by the PTA. As their community literacy partner, Chick-fil-A® donated little stuffed cows to present to students as they reached their half-way mark. The school held a monthly Tally Rally where numbers of books read were totaled to check the status of goals. “One of the greatest motivators,” said Ms. Stevens “was the book talks given by our students at the rallies. These talks generated interest in the books and prompted others to try them out. Kids were so excited about their books they would stop me in the hall to share the best parts.”

“We were hoping for a good response to the promotion,” Ms. Stevens confided, “but we were overwhelmed at the tremendous results within our student body. The enthusiasm was contagious.” It seems that the enthusiasm spread outside the school as well. Parents and community members became nearly as excited as the students and teachers. One grandmother of a St. Paul student said, “My granddaughter doesn’t go straight to the TV anymore…she goes straight to her backpack to dig out her books. Another parent said, “My daughter wants our family to turn off the television and read every night.” And yet another, “I am so impressed with this reading program. One day I couldn’t find my son so I began looking all around the house...I finally found him in his bedroom reading a book.”

Powerful results
And did they reach their goal? Indeed they did, and they have increased it this year to 4500 books. Did Ms. Stevens milk a cow? Indeed she did! Getting the books into the children’s hands has also become easier. Ms. Lawrence, the originator of this campaign, reported, “The middle school students return to my room not only to share about their reading but to donate their personal books to my classroom library.” As teachers began checking out more and more copies from their personal collections, the Huntsville School District committed to purchasing books to provide extensive classroom libraries to meet the increased demand.

As would be expected, St. Paul students are not only reading more, they are reading better. Their understanding is greater, and they are able to discuss their stories with greater depth than before. “The special education students in my classroom,” says Ms. Lawrence, “raised their reading levels at least two grade levels.”

A Tough Act to Follow
So how will they top the success and keep the enthusiasm going? Teachers feel they are off to a good start with their new promotion, “Hog Wild about Reading.” The teachers are now sporting hog noses as they urge their students to work toward their individual goals. A local artisan has created an acrylic clip for their backpacks showing a razorback and the “Hog Wild about Reading” slogan. A major difference this year is the inclusion of older grade-level students. “The high school is connected this year!” Ms. Stevens exclaims. “They were inspired by the great response to the “Got Books?” effort last year and asked if they could be a part of this year’s plan. We were thrilled, of course.”

Getting students to read is serious business. And serious business in St. Paul, Arkansas, is great fun. Take their advice…go hog wild…read a book.

October 2005