Hundreds of Summer Reading Events Planned

Posted Date: 06/03/2020

May 18, 2018—More than 200 summer reading events are already on the calendar as Amarillo ISD launches a district-wide summer literacy focus.

The aim of this inaugural series of events is volume, with the goal of students coming in and books going out at every school and for every grade level.

Known as “brain drain,” or “the summer slide,” the phenomenon describes the loss of academic achievement that happens during the summer months. “The ‘summer slide,’ as they call it, is real,” said AISD Secondary ELA Curriculum Specialist Beth Brannon. “Continuing to read over the summer is paramount to student success during the school year.”

For this summer, each campus has planned events which are open to all AISD students and their families. Themed events are happening at elementary and middle school campuses, and many include the opportunity for students to receive free books or to exchange books. At Bowie Middle School, a June event includes a literacy beach party with a cookout and the Amarillo Venom football players. At the high school level, there’s a joint online book club.

"We want to provide a literacy-rich summer culture across our school district," said Brannon. "Reading comprehension and fluency truly are about muscle, and if you go a long time without working out that muscle, it goes away. We want to keep students working and growing that muscle over the summer months so they stay on level and maybe even grow a few reading levels over the summer."

Information about literacy events will be communicated to families by schools and on the schools’ social media channels. Parents can also access a calendar of events, with new activities being added over the coming days and weeks.