With how busy life can be, sometimes reading for pleasure can fall to the wayside. BAHS’ very own eleventh and twelfth grade English teacher Kara Derry has sought to change this.  

“My goal is to get kids to read, especially during the summer. I hope to do so by coordinating with teachers, the school librarian, administrators, and the local public library, making this a community-wide action plan,” Derry said. 

Combining both her passion for literature and learning to make a difference, Derry created a three part action plan to promote the value in reading.

“Reading is just so important—the knowledge gained and the enjoyment in being involved in a character’s life experiences. Reading opens up the world to you,” Derry said. 

The first prong of this initiative, better known as “Caught Reading,” features teachers, administrators, and staff at BAHS reading their favorite book. These photos will be made into posters and bookmarks made available throughout the school, library, and even the Bangor Public Library. 

This beginning stage is essential in that it is designed to bring awareness of this initiative to the student body and encourage them participate in this trend of reading for enjoyment. Once they are reading for fun, there will be many other benefits that follow.

“The side benefits of students reading is that it will naturally increase [students’] word repertoire, make other reading materials easier to read, increase empathy, and increase background knowledge,” Derry said. 

To create further reach, Derry coined the term “#BAHSFavBooks” to engage her social media privy audience. Within this second phase, it is now up to the students to capture and share their own adventures of reading to either Instagram or Twitter using the designated hashtag. 

“In using a hashtag and taking to various social media platforms, we are going where the students are,” Derry said. “This is a big deal. We want to start a whole stream of these posts, eventually, students will be able to scroll through the hashtag and get inspiration for their own reading.”

The final aspect of this exciting initiative is to broaden the spectrum by including and promoting the Bangor Public Library. Through the local library, students have access to a bevy of resources including the library’s ever-growing book collection, a variety of electronic resources, and many other library services. 

“I want kids to be able to read anything from magazines, newspapers, books, to even graphic novels,” Derry said. “The value in reading is so important and its ability to take you into another world is just too important to be lost.” 

Take part in this movement by sharing a photo featuring you and your favorite book alongside a quick review or recommendation to “#BAHSFavBooks” on Instagram or Twitter!