NHS Reads to Hanover Students

On March 31^st, National Honor Society members from H.C. Wilcox Technical High School chapter engaged in a virtual book reading with kindergarten and second grade students from Hanover Elementary School in Meriden, CT. Chelsea Fitzgerald, Josue Mateo-Salcedo, and Abriana Sepulveda read Pete the Cat books to kindergarteners and even lead them in the “Cool Cat Boogie” dance. The Hanover Elementary Assistant Principal, Orlando Valentine (a Wilcox grad), even joined the kindergartners as they danced! Chelsea described her experience by writing, “Josue, Abby, and I read two Pete the Cat books about different talents to the kindergartners. It was wonderful hearing each student tell us their special talent and being able to teach them a new talent from one of the stories, Pete the Cat and the Cool Cat Boogie. Many of the students had talents, like baking and drawing, that would be wonderful for future Wilcox students.”

In the meantime, Kayla Moyao, Dakota Arthur, Reina Marroquin Ashley Mendoza, Jaden Bazinet, and Madison Milano read Eric Carle (author the Hungry Caterpillar) books to second graders. Jaden, the current treasurer, described her experience: “I had the opportunity to read two different Eric Carle books to a wonderful group of three 2nd graders. I engaged with the kids by asking them how they enjoyed the story, what they enjoy about 2nd grade, some of their interests, and more. It is very clear that these kids have such a passion for learning, and it seems they have a really fun time with their teacher. It was enlightening seeing the joy in their expressions and how eager they were to have someone read to and interact with them. They were such a lovely group of extremely intelligent kids and I am so glad that I was able to participate in this group reading.” Madison found meaning in this service project as well, sharing, “So I’m glad that I was able to have that social interaction with them. I think that the more we read these kinds of books to kids, then the more that they are able to learn and process what their hearing and reading.” Dakota also enjoyed the experience: “They had the cutest reactions to the book I was reading and the experience truly made me remember how enjoyable reading to such young kids could be. Between interacting with the children and me getting to read some of my favorite childhood books made this quite memorable. I totally would be down to do something like this again next year if we could!”

The H.C. Wilcox National Honor Society members really enjoyed this meaningful service activity and partnership with Hanover Elementary School. In response to the event, Hanover Elementary kindergarten teacher, Ms. Dawn Gassman, had the following to say, “I just wanted to reach out and thank you for that great experience this morning!  They are still talking about Pete the Cat!  My students loved it, and our assistant principal came in and danced with them!  Thank you for organizing this!”

If you would like to request or recommend a service project for the National Honor Society at Wilcox Tech, please reach out to the adviser, Alecia Walkuski at Alecia.Walkuski@cttech.org  or (203)-317-5855.