St. Ignace Students Zigzag Their Way to San Francisco Through Books
By Karen Gould

Kindergarten through seventh grade students at St. Ignace Area Schools are taking a road trip into reading in March. Here, third grade students in Amy Metz's class take a rest stop Wednesday, March 5, along the hallway highway. Pictured are (front row, from left) Hannah Eby, Taylor St. Onge, Rosy Shimkovitz, Callie Kammers, Jade Edelman, Alex France, Hunter Frazier, and Troy Hansen; (back) Kurtis Belonga, Austin Marshall, Cody Blair, Kate Bentgen, Lauren Yoder, Andrew Will, Sam Fullerton, Devin McNeely, Carter Tallaire, and Spencer Davis.

Students in grades kindergarten through seven at St. Ignace Area Schools are taking an imaginary road trip this month by reading books and earning travel miles. The March into Reading program focuses on improving reading skills through reading-related activities.

An oversized map hangs on the hallway wall and is being used to track the "travel" of each team by its color. The teams will start in St. Ignace and zig-zag their way across the country, arriving in San Francisco by the end of the month.

Construction barrels, stop signs, road cones, and other street signs have transformed hallways at the school into roads. Classroom doors are decorated and restroom doorways now are labeled rest stops. A "welcome center" has been set up with maps and brochures. Duct tape strategically affixed down the center of the carpeted hallways provides traffic lane dividers.

The program also incorporates geography, map reading, and writing, said Bonnie Ledy, elementary and middle school principal. One assignment will ask students to write about a trip they have taken.

Students abide by hallway construction markers and even announce when they are moving into the passing lane as they head to a classroom and maneuver around slower-moving students.

"Those are construction barrels," points out one young student to another as they walk down the hallway.

Heather Brady, sixth grade social studies teacher, has decorated a hallway display with personal travel photographs, maps, and notes to those who stop for a look.

"The fun is in reading a map," says one of her notes. "The challenge is in folding it."

Students in the eight grades have been divided into three teams, named red, white, or blue. Each team draws from all the grades and totals about 100 students each. The exercise, said Mrs. Ledy, will help students get to know those in other classes and it eliminates any age advantages in competitive reading.

Points earned for reading each grade-appropriate book are labeled in the book. Each point earned equals 10 miles. To earn travel miles, students must read the book and then pass a test about the story. Miles earned then are credited to their team.

The first team to reach San Francisco first will get an ice cream sundae party.

Instead of taking the shortest route to the west coast, students will accumulate miles and travel to well-known destinations. Once the students cross the Mackinac Bridge, they will journey to Nashville, Tennessee. From there, reading miles will take them to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri, and then on to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

The scoring and miles are being tracked by a computer program. School librarian Betsy Wheeler and reading teacher Laura Janeczek are co-chairing the project and tracking the miles.

Not everyone can travel to different places, although this year's reading program is teaching students they can travel to places through books, which transport the reader to another time and place.

"Though your imagination," Mrs. Ledy said, "reading can take you anywhere in the world you want to travel."

Event days are planned all month, including days for wearing a hat, team colors, and sunglasses. On other days students will bring a travel pillow to class or a stuffed animal, which will serve as a travel pal. The month's activities will end with the announcement of the winning team March 27, as students gather in the cafeteria for popcorn and punch and watch a musical performance by the sixth grade.

The road signs, barrels, and construction cones were donated for the reading program by the Mackinac Bridge Authority, the City of St. Ignace, and the Michigan Department of Transportation. The St. Ignace Welcome Center donated displays, travel brochures, and maps for the school's welcome center.