Dear Editor:
In response to the decision by the Peotone 207-U School Board to cancel the summer reading program for non-AP classes, I urge the board to reconsider.
As a 30 year retired veteran of both school and public library work, I personally have witnessed the damage done to education by not requiring students to read. Banning books or programs now will make future banning decisions easier to make with each event. Please take a stand on the right side of this debate now, before any damage is done to your district’s reputation, or funding, and your students’ education.
After reading the Peotone Vedette’s article of 7/6, “Peotone School Board Votes to End Summer Reading,” I watched the board minutes and was dismayed to see only two parents spoke out against a handful of titles from the Illinois Abraham Lincoln Reading List. Two parents should not be allowed to dictate what the whole student body can or cannot read, or cancel a program so essential to every students’ education. As you well know, summer reading programs help to encourage lifelong reading habits and help slow the “summer learning slide” that happens when students are not challenging their brains as much during the summer months. Assuming you are aware of the research supporting this theory, your decision is all the more concerning.
All four titles mentioned by the parents at the board meeting have themes of acceptance and social justice. They talk about how each of us are important, no matter who we are. All four titles shine a light on issues that should be important to our society as a whole. That you cancelled your summer reading program so easily speaks volumes about your school community.
If your ELA teachers and librarian are responsible for choosing to use the Abraham Lincoln list from which your students read, as happens in many school districts, please trust their experience and expertise and support them by standing behind their decision. After all, you hired each of them because they were the best person for the job.
I know from reading books on the Abraham Lincoln list myself that there are several titles that the two parents, who objected to only four books out of 20, will find to meet their narrow requirements. Please allow the rest of your non-AP students and their parents to choose and think for themselves.
Finally, reading books about people and places different from ourselves DOES make us more accepting and empathetic. I am living proof of that. I think of the book “The Hate You Give,” by Angie Thomas, everyday before I make a snap judgment about anyone. Maybe reinstating summer reading would help your district’s racial bullying situation, as well.
Sincerely,
Marybeth Raynes
Matteson