Family Literacy Night hosted at Graham School

Families participated in various engaging, thought-provoking activities on Thursday evening at Graham School for Family ELA Night to discover the joy of literacy with their loved ones. Attendees were welcomed with a plethora of resources and books to utilize for themselves and their children’s education. 

The evening started off with third through eighth grade students at Graham receiving certificates for various achievements for the quarter such as perfect attendance and honor roll, before community members heard about the importance of investing in their children’s education and reading with them.

“One thing I wanted to share with parents about literacy is that it's extremely important…” said Faith Walters, a Mount Vernon resident who is also an author. “I always read a book every night before they (her children) went to bed; so they understood how the world was formed and they understood the language.”

Afterwards, families were able to choose from a variety of activities to get excited about literacy. Young scholars were able to engage in a “Starbooks” cafe book tasting, where they explored different genres of literature such as fairy tales and biographies. Students were also read “Sulwe” by Lupita Nyong’o. 

In the gymnasium, there were many games families could play to work on their vocabulary and sight word recognition skills. Some of these games included Construction Sight, Alphabet Sprinkle and Scrabble. 

Parents and guardians took part in a “Hidden in Plain Sight” presentation, where they learned about hidden references and paraphernalia that could indicate a teen’s drug or alcohol use. This presentation was brought by Student Assistance Services and the Westchester Coalition for Drug and Alcohol Free Youth and The Mount Vernon Positive Parenting Program, having Richard Julius as the presenter.

“I came tonight because it said it was a family night; and, you know, of course, when you spend time with your family, it's always a pleasure to learn from the kids,” said Tasha Marie Frazier, a parent of twins who attend Graham and Benjamin Turner Academy. "To identify strengths among them, weaknesses, and to even take away some ideas that you could also utilize… I definitely would encourage them (the District) to keep more of these activities because I've met a lot of parents here and they're asking questions and they're happy about spending a little time with their kids.”

During the event, eighth graders assisted with helping families get to their destination, as well as sold snacks and stuffed animals to raise money for their field day at the end of the year. This event allows scholars to celebrate all the hard work and dedication they put into their education this year.