Hazel Dell riders win reading challenge

If not for the sound of the bus itself, you might not know that Bus 32, filled with children from Hazel Dell Elementary School, had pulled into the neighborhood.

The only sound coming from the bus just before Christmas was the voices of children reading to each other.

Driven by Mrs. Marty Horn, the bus became known as "The Reader Express" because it carried children to and from school who were eager to get on the bus, pull out a book, and read.

Their eagerness to read was generated by Mrs. Horn whose daily passengers include a number of energetic boys - not bad kids, she says, just very energetic boys.

As a bus driver, her top priority is the safe transportation of children. To help ensure each trip was a safe one, she started looking for a way to keep children quiet.

"I decided to see how many books they could read," she said. "Mr. Land challenged them to read 1,000 books and told them if they did that, he would give them a pizza party."

Mrs. Horn bought some books, brought more from home, and borrowed others from the school library. She stored the books in a box at the front of the bus so children could choose one when they boarded.

She kept a chart at the front of the bus so that children could keep track of how many books they had read. She seated student monitors throughout the bus to keep all students honest.

The challenge started November 11 and the children rallied to the cause. They read book after book after book."
"This really kept them busy. As they would get off the bus, they would tell me what they had read," Mrs. Horn said.

"A lot of the older kids would read to kindergartners and the third- and fourth-graders would sit with the first graders who were learning to read and help them."

By the second week of December, the children had read more than 1,000 books, an average of more than 11 books each. Their pizza party came after Christmas Break.

After safety, perhaps the greatest benefit of the challenge was that children reported that their reading skills had improved because they were reading more.

Mrs. Horn borrowed the idea of providing books to children on the bus from Mrs. Marilyn Gilliland who drives Bus 45.

Mrs. Gilliland had been looking for creative ways to keep her youngest passengers busy when kindergarten teacher Mrs. Susan Julian suggested she try keeping books on the bus.

"Mrs. Julian gave me 10 or 15 books to start and the kindergartners and first graders loved them," Mrs. Gilliland said.

"The older kids asked if I could get chapter books for them."

Their request was granted. Mrs. Julian received funds from a grant to purchase chapter books.

"The kids just want to read!" Mrs. Gilliland said.

"It?s amazing how well behaved they are. Some are active at the end of the day because they have been in structured activities all day, but if we give them something to do, they?re great!"