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Hundreds spend Saturday in the park for Marietta Reads!

It was a perfect day for reading in the park Sept. 24 as Marietta Reads! officially kicked off the third year of the Marietta City Schools’ reading and literacy initiative with a reading fair in Glover Park that mixed books with lots of fun and entertainment.

Characters such as Winnie The Pooh, Amelia Bedelia, Mari-Etta and a very bouncy kangaroo strolled among the hundreds of children and adults in attendance as they enjoyed games, face- and nail-painting, making their own books and bookmarks, and balloon art. Many took the short walk down Church Street to the giant Scholastic Book Fair in the parking lot of the Smith, Eubanks, Smith and Tumlin law firm.

There was plenty of entertainment ranging from the Marietta High Schools “Steppers” to puppeteer Kevin Pittman to the bluegrass sounds of the Mars Hill Porch Pickers, whose featured player “Washtub John” also gave some lessons on how to play his unique homemade instrument.

And of course, there was reading – lots of reading. Volunteers from the Marietta Rotary Club, Marietta Fire and Police departments, and Marietta High School football team had baskets of books to share with youngsters. Storytellers spun tales of wonder and delight under the picturesque setting of the park’s gazebo. With their literary appetite whetted, fair attendees could sign up with the Cobb County Library to get a library card or volunteer to be a reading tutor with Communities In Schools of Marietta/Cobb.

The overall goal for Marietta Reads! is “to create a school and community culture that strongly values reading and literacy” while achieving three primary objectives:

• Improve student achievement through enhanced literacy;
• Involve the community in supporting our efforts; and
• Promote adult literacy, creating role models for our students.

Over the first two years, MCS, students read more than 3.6 billion words and earned in excess of 615,000 Accelerated Reader points. Since Marietta Reads! began, scores in reading and English/language arts have shown increases on both state and national tests and all seven of Marietta’s elementary schools, the Marietta Sixth Grade Academy and Marietta Middle School made Adequate Yearly Progress for 2005 under Georgia’s standards for the No Child Left Behind Act.

2005-2006 Highlights

2005-2006
Medallion Winners

Scenes kickoff on The Square Magic of Reading