Reading matters
Guest speakers share with the kids the importance of reading in their jobs
Reading is a big part of being in school.
Little kids learn their ABCs there and how to spell their names. They read books and write reports on them. They read instructions in tests and quizzes.
And students at Willow Creek Elementary School found out Thursday that the importance of reading doesn’t stop when school is over.
“Reading it not just in the classroom, friends,” Amanda Beidler, a Kutztown University student and reading specialist intern at the school, told a group of kindergarteners gathered inside the school’s auditorium. “You read all day, everywhere.”
That’s certainly the case for Zach Warren.
Warren, a 2018 Fleetwood High School graduate, is a pilot for Quest Diagnostics. He took some time Thursday morning to share with students about how he uses reading in his job.
He was one of three speakers who took part in a series of assemblies at Willow Creek organized by Beidler to celebrate National Reading Week.
“We really want to stress that it’s important to practice reading and that reading impacts our lives,” she said.
Warren, who spoke to students in grades kindergarten through second, said being able to read well is necessary for him to fly planes.
“I read every day as a pilot,” he told the kindergartners. “It is important that I’m literate, that I read well and read quickly.”
Warren said he has to read weather reports, the labels on the dials and buttons inside the cockpit, and write flight plans. He added that he also likes to read for pleasure in his free time, saying his favorite book is “The Hobbit.”
While Warren spoke to the school’s younger grades, older students heard from an IT professional and a manufacturing engineer support technician about how reading is important in their jobs.