Assemblyman Barclay Recognizes Olympic Effort For Reading At Fitzhugh Park

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OSWEGO, NY – During the past summer, the students at the Fitzhugh Park Elementary School were determined to “Read for the Gold.”

Teacher Erin Trapasso said, “Last June every reading teacher went into the classrooms and talked to the children about the importance of reading during the summer and challenged them to read. We gave them gold calendars and they were to write down the title of the books they had read and check off every 15 minutes that they were reading. Parents were then asked to sign it.”

On Sept. 25, Assemblyman Will Barclay visited the school to congratulate the students on the importance of summer reading and he personally presented each student with a certificate.

Barclay spoke to the students about the importance of good citizenship and becoming involved in the community.

In an interactive discussion, the students provided ideas of what good citizenship is and some of the things they could personally do to brighten up and assist others in the school and community.

“Gold” medals were presented to numerous students who read for at least 52 days during the summer and some read as many as 62 days.

The “gold” recipients included Benjamin Holbrook, Gabriela Valentin, Aaron Hibbert, Tommy Lee, Tristyn Shortt, Catelyn Murphy, Shelby Davis, Jaime Thompson, Madeline Gunther, Shameeka Laliveres, Liberty McCracken, Donald Ditton, Eric Young, James Pittman, Mackenzie Snyder, Jack Lee, Jarod Sawyer, Allison Hibbert, Nathaniel Ahart, Camden Proud, Alison Rogers, Kaitlyn Strong, Haley Baker, Abbey Mulkerin, Sarah Cappelletti, Amber Cavellier, Sabrina Winslow, Katie Carroll, Michaela Callen, Cirilo Valentin, Brooke Farnsworth, Carrie Yurkon, Megan Shafer, Colin Clark, Tatiana Berkley, Shantal Harrington,  Shea Hewitt, Matt Rodgers, Angela Rookey, and Hayden Avery.

The “silver” medalists read for at least 47 days and included Natalia Trapasso, Skylar Trapasso, Mikayla Trapasso and Cash Kennedy.

The “bronze” medalists read for at least 42 days this past summer and included Karsyn Mahaney, Gracie Hoffman, Nicole Anthony, Mackenzie Chappell, Colton Avery, Jessica Pullen, Rhiannon Winslow, Tessa Ellis, Dakota Ingersoll, Marissa Familo-Bennett, Rebecca Scheinert and Mathew Weller.

During the summer program students entering first and second grade had to draw a picture of their favorite character.

Students entering third through sixth had to write a summary about their favorite book from each month.

Trapasso noted, “This is our second year of challenging the students of Fitzhugh Park to read over the summer. It is our hope that we can strengthen reading skills and make gains. We are also trying to promote the importance of the home and school connection. The reading teachers at FPS feel that the biggest gift you can give your child is a love of reading. We are trying to stress over and over the importance of reading in a child’s life.”

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