First Literacy Night event brings families together

E.C. Best Elementary School’s first Literacy Night on Wednesday not only brought families together at the event, but also at home.

During the holiday break, about 500 students created artistic and imaginative displays summarizing a book of their choice they read with their families at home. The displays were not only turned in for a grade but for a chance to place in the Literacy Night contest as well.

As students showcased their work to peers and their families, some parents expressed how much they enjoyed the involvement such as Shonna Lee, mother of Brayden Baca, a second grade student that won first place in his class for his literacy project.

“We worked on this together and it feels great to see he won,” she said. “We honestly weren’t expecting it.”

Students with relatives in the school also had the opportunity to work on projects together, like Sharon Pacheco’s family.

“I love being here with my family,” said Pacheco, a grandmother. “We enjoyed it because it brought the family together, the cousins and brothers. We want to help out with projects like this again.”

To determine wining projects, members of the community—such as school board trustees, the Sheriff’s Office, police department, and more of local government—were invited to judge the projects during the day and committed at least two hours to evaluate each one.

“The students did a phenomenal job,” said Captain Kris Alexander of the Fallon Police Department. “It’s great to get the community involved to see what they’re doing.”

E.C. Best teacher Heidi Barnes said she noticed families interacted through social media to discuss projects for Literacy Night.

In addition, instructional staff also helped some students complete their projects at school if support wasn’t provided at home.

“We are amazed by the turnout and the family involvement,” she said. “We thank all of the judges for participating.”