Killbuck Elementary’s Reading Under the Lights returns
Killbuck librarian Lisa Lawhead reads to a large group of youngsters as part of the Killbuck Reading Under the Lights promotion on Friday, May 20 at Killbuck Community Park. She was one of three featured guest readers, along with Holmes County officer Corey McVicker and West Holmes High School student-athlete Sam Williams-Dixon.
Killbuck Elementary’s Reading Under the Lights returned after a two-year hiatus and brought together community families and students who were eager to welcome the event back after the pandemic pushed it aside in 2020 and 2021.
The event took place Friday, May 20 at Killbuck Community Park.
Reading Under the Lights is Killbuck Elementary’s way of giving back to the community while at the same time providing reading material by allowing students to pick five books from myriad reading choices.
Killbuck Elementary teacher Molly Aylsworth spearheaded the event, and she said getting back to the event after missing it the past two years since it began in 2019 was something special for the kids and for the community.
“We wanted to bring this back, and with the help of many sponsors and supporters in the community, we were able to do just that,” Aylsworth said.
The donations of many in the community saw the school raise $4,000, which all went toward the purchase of hundreds of books that were placed on the picnic tables in Killbuck Park’s new pavilion. Once students arrived, they could sign in and pick out five books to take with them, with the challenge that they read them this summer. The books purchased for the event included reading material from Scholastic and First Book, which make books available to low-income areas such as Holmes County.
That allowed the committee to purchase both soft- and hard-cover books, as well as sets of books.
That all the books were free to each child made picking out the books a lot of fun. The event sponsors also saw to it that everyone in attendance had plenty of food.
“We’ve had tremendous support from so many different businesses who were willing to help support our cause and get books into the hands of the kids,” Aylsworth said. “We had sponsors, not just from Killbuck, but from Millersburg, East Holmes and even from Wisconsin. But most importantly, we wanted to make sure this event remained right here in Killbuck at the park, so kids in town could walk or bike here and we could reach as many people as possible.”
In addition, the event had three special book readers who read to the kids. That included West Holmes High School star running back Sam Williams-Dixon, Holmes County officer Corey McVicker and Killbuck librarian Lisa Lawhead.
All three read the book, “The Magician’s Hat,” a book about following your dreams no matter what that dream might be, which Aylsworth said the staff hoped was a message each child could take home and pursue.
“It doesn’t matter what our children’s dreams are. We hope every single one of them are able to follow them, whatever they might be,” Aylsworth said.
She went on to talk about the effort behind the event, noting it took a great deal of work by the school staff and the community to make the evening a success.
She said preliminary planning began in October 2021, and figuring out which books to purchase and how funds would be best distributed was an ongoing process. She said the last two months were a whirlwind of activity as the staff zeroed in on the big day.
“It took a lot of people, and I think we were still getting everything in place right up to about 4 p.m. today,” Aylsworth said.
In addition to the books, food and activities, the committee also raffled off book baskets for kindergarteners and students grades 1-5. Every child was invited to submit their name for the drawing, and they also raffled off four stadium blankets donated by Shoemaker Apparel.
Along with the free books, it was a banner night for Killbuck.
“It’s a nice thing for the community and for the kids of Killbuck,” West Holmes Schools Superintendent Eric Jurkovic said. “Any time we can get books in kids’ hands is a good thing, and that they are free is even better. We couldn’t ask for a better night.”
Aylsworth said the school recently completed its Right to Read Week, which was themed “Baseball,” and this event served as a celebration of that effort that spread out to the entire community.
She said making this a community event helps to not only promote reading, but it also presents a chance for community families to connect and enjoy an evening of fellowship.