Students and staff at
Don Brewer Elementary celebrated this year’s school theme, "We're Wild About Learning," by having a reading kick-off featuring special guests from the Jacksonville Zoo.
Mr. Boecklen, from the Jacksonville Zoo and Garden’s Education Department, brought a variety of animals with him, including an owl, a hedgehog, alligator, bearded dragon and Boa constrictor. He also showed the students several different animal skulls and skins, and spoke to them about keeping our environment a safe place for animals.
The visit aligned perfectly with the student’s theme of being “wild about learning,” as the whole school is decorated in a safari theme. Students were encouraged to be wild about reading, and to meet their yearly reading goals.
“Throughout the year, we tell all of our students to read every day,” said Principal Jennifer Collins. “We want them to develop a love of reading because we know it will take them to so many places. Today, they got to be wild about reading and wild about books as they enjoyed this fun presentation from the Jacksonville Zoo.”
The third-graders’ goal is to read 30 books, while the fourth- and fifth-graders must read 25. If the students meet their reading goals, which their teachers and principal know they will, they will get special rewards every grading period and also be treated to an end-of-year reading celebration.
For more pictures from the Wild About Learning reading kick-off at Don Brewer, visit the
DCPS' flickr photostream.
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