Last Thursday, April 10, all Elkhorn South seniors were invited to a senior only reading night in the library from 4:30 to 7:30. The event was organized by Kelsey Orr, Melissa Simons, Abby Magers, and Alyssa Grell all in efforts to bring seniors together in the name of literature, but most importantly, in the name of finishing the next third of the independent reading required of AP Literature students.

The independent reading (IR) unit is featured in both semesters of AP Literature, however, in the spring semester the book is required to have a publishing date in the 2000s or later. This specific requirement gives the opportunity for students to read more modern literature in the midst of units plagued by authors that are long gone. With only five weeks left in the school year for seniors, it is vital to finish the third of the IR novel assigned each week in order to spend time preparing for the AP test. For some, this means reading 200 pages in a week and others, closer to 100. Either way, it’s a great test of time management for the students. With the encroaching Friday due dates, the AP Lit teachers thought that putting on a reading night would be a great opportunity for students to be in a focused, quiet environment to complete their task. 

“The IR unit has completely changed the culture of reading at ESHS. Allowing students the ability to choose the novel that they read, within certain guidelines, has made students over the last few years reignite their love of reading that had maybe dwindled over the years. I also love that we do this unit with Seniors in AP Lit, because I feel like we are sending them into the world with a skill and a passion that they can continue throughout their whole lives,” Magers said.

Often, after school academic events are put on the backburner with students giving priority to other extracurricular activities, jobs and social gatherings, so the turnout of the event was a bit of a surprise to the organizers. In class Grell even mentioned that they originally expected ten to RSVP but up to 80 students filled out the form.

“We were hopeful that the event would attract some students, but we are thrilled to see how many students have RSVP’d. It’s so great to see students buying into the joy of reading, especially in a world where it is easy to get bogged down in technology and digital media,” Magers said.

The success of the event can be attributed to the promotion of the organizers, however the incentives of snacks, a cocoa bar, a raffle, and most importantly extra credit, really drew students into the event. In addition to these incentives, every hour, a ten minute talking period helped the students take a moment to chat with their friends before getting back to their novels. The three hour marathon gave the opportunity for students to prioritize their reading and many were successful in completing the second third of their books, with some even getting a head start on the next week’s third. 

 “The goal is really to promote reading, the timing of it being before the second 1/3 of the novel being due was mostly a convenient benefit. We love reading and want this to be a fun event for students!” Magers said. 

With the astonishing turnout of the read-a-thon, the event will likely be seen by the walls of Elkhorn South again.

“I hope it becomes an annual event! Students seem really excited about it, as am I!” Magers said.