Greenvale Celebrates Love of Literacy with Annual Read-A-Thon

For many, the idea of Spring Break isn’t complete without the idea of relaxing on a beach and enjoying a good book. On Friday morning, Greenvale students had a chance to hear from some Eastchester community members about their own love for literature at the school’s annual Read-A-Thon.

23 guest readers—including district administrators, staff and faculty members, Board of Education Trustees, elected officials, first responders and current Eastchester secondary students—were on hand for the celebration, popping into classrooms to share passages from a wide array of children’s books. 

EUFSD Superintendent Dr. Alison Villanueva read The Bad Seed by Jory John to Andrew Becker’s fourth grade class and said that engaging with the students about the themes of the book afterwards was an exhilarating and informative exercise. 

“This is a book I read to my children at home and they loved the series; earlier in the year, I read it to kindergarten students, but reading it with the older students, you can see that they have more mature thoughts about what the seed—the book’s main character—is going through,” said Villanueva. “They talked about the emotions, the feelings, and how they can be a good friend to someone who might also be feeling those things.”

Villanueva added that the willingness of district employees and volunteers to spend time working with young students affirms the tight-knit bonds of the Eastchester community. 

“Today, I shook hands with our Town Supervisor, a member of our Town Council, Board Members, representatives from our fire and police department, and more,” said Villanueva. “They want to come and give back.

“All of these moments build relationships between our kids and trusted adults in the community beyond our school walls,” she added.