Friday’s Reading Safari brings kids, community together

Pioneer Elementary will celebrate its annual literacy event, Reading Safari Day, on Friday, March 24 from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Reading Safari Day is hosted alongside National Reading Month in March and Pioneer Principal Lisa Budarf said it serves as a perfect opportunity for the students and volunteers from in the community to bond over a passion for books. “It is also a time of the year where a lot of our students have started to read independently and others are just on the verge of doing that, so it’s a great opportunity for parents, community members and family members to bond with their child and share that love of reading,” she said. Every year on this day, the campus opens its doors to its students’ family members and people in the Graham community who wish to read to Pioneer students. Different reading centers are set up throughout the school, each with different themes for the volunteers and students. “We always add a few new stations each year,” Budarf said. “We retire a few stations and we try to keep the interest of the kids kind of at heart, so whatever they are really excited about learning, we make sure to have a center on that.” This year Pioneer hopes to get 582 volunteers at the event which Budarf said translates to all students on campus getting to visit two centers. She said those who volunteer have a flexible time period to visit with students and can pick how much time they want to stay on the campus. For the rest of this story, subscribe to our print or online edition.