YOUTH ON THE GO
Riccardi Elementary
School students in Saugerties took a trip around the world recently — and they didn’t need a ship or a plane to do it. All they needed was the power of the written word and their own imaginations.
On Jan. 23, the school kicked off its annual Parents as Reading Partners program with a school-wide read-a-thon, based on this year’s program theme, “Read Around the World.” Students visited South Korea, Mexico, Bangladesh, Germany and Africa through stories like “The Leopard’s Drum” and “Skippyjon Jones.” They enjoyed not only the stories, but also traditional clothing, instruments and crafts of the country or continent they were visiting.
Each student received a paper passport that they could have stamped to remember their visit, and, hopefully, be inspired to learn more about places and people that captured their imagination. The students were also treated to a visit by children’s book author Julie Fogliano, who read to them from her books and helped inspire them to read plenty of books and use their creativity to write their own.
“Reading plants seeds in your brain and they stay there forever,” she said.
Fogliano urged students to pay attention to the world around them, especially the natural world, and soak up details they can use in writing. “Ideas are all around,” she said. “Become spies of the whole entire world. That’s what all of you need to do to write your stories.”
••• Members of the Columbia and Greene Teen Ambassadors 4-H Club got together in December to bake cookies