On Thursday, March 16, Mill Creek Elementary hosted its third annual “Real Men Read” event to promote school-wide literacy to its students. The event took place from 8:30am-1:00pm, and multiple men from the community were invited to come and participate in the fun and interactive event. The readers ranged from local male officials to prominent role models in the community. The overall aim of the event was to emphasize the importance of reading to children in an engaging and memorable way.
Reading is fundamental to a child’s development, and equally important to a child’s development is the love and attention received during those early developmental years. Mill Creek’s team of leaders and educators understand these sentiments clearly. So much so, that this Real Men Read event is now in its third yearly rotation as an event for improving student literacy.
Men were spotlighted specifically as readers for this event because Mill Creek's team wanted to share positive male role models with its student population. Many of Mill Creek's students lack the physical or emotional support of male figures.
Megan Beasley, School Improvement Specialist for ELA, shared, “Our ‘Real Men Read’ event looks to promote positive male role models to our student population. Many of our students come from non-traditional households. So, we strive to display a range of demographics and occupations to our children throughout our various literacy events. Furthermore, this literacy event continues to be an important one, as it helps our children see the many career opportunities and community mentors available to them.”
I personally made a stop by Mrs. Hendrix’s First Grade Class to read a familiar story about a hungry caterpillar to my first grade friends -- “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle. In short, the book was about a hungry caterpillar who heartily ate his way from Monday to Friday. He ate so much that he rested in a cocoon and transitioned into a beautiful butterfly.
Now, I don’t know whether the moral of that story was to eat to your heart’s content and become beautiful, but that’s most certainly the understanding that I'll be moving forward in life with!
My time spent with Mrs. Hendrix’s class was a complete delight. I’m also excited to return to their classroom soon to watch their baby chickens hatch for their science project! The moments and memories made here are the ones that Mill Creek always aims to foster through their community events, and they are surely succeeding.
Beasley, on behalf of Mill Creek Elementary, would like to thank the Statesboro community for their continued support.
"We appreciate everybody’s willingness to support and participate in this event," she said. "We are grateful that there was such a positive response in regards to participating in it.”
For more information on the ongoing programs and events at Mill Creek Elementary School, please visit their website at https://mces-bcss-ga.schoolloop.com/.
