A Festive Assembly Launches One Book, One School Initiative at Frank G. Lindsey
With several colorful visitors from the Land of Oz and Superintendent Michael A. Tromblee on hand, Frank G. Lindsey Elementary School began this year’s One Book, One School initiative.
Children were gathered in the school’s cafeteria for a festive celebration that marked the beginning of the annual campaign. The entire school will read “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz,” a novel written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum that has been the inspiration behind several notable movie adaptations. During the celebration, principal Anecia McGill read a description of the novel and Mr. Tromblee read the first chapter, “The Cyclone,” aloud, promising afterward that he would read the book along with the students.
To help set the scene, there were decorations throughout the hallways and in the cafeteria, and several teachers dressed as characters from the book. The costumes included Dorothy, the Wicked Witch of the West, the Good Witch of the North, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion.
“The book choice was inspired by the movie Wicked,” said teacher Dana Duffy, who dressed as the Scarecrow. “The teachers thought the book was age-appropriate for our students and it has such a great message.”
The event was organized by teacher Kathy Fucheck and her colleagues, and the Hen Hud Elementary PTA generously provided every student in the school with a copy of the book and a special bookmark. They will read the book over the course of the next six weeks and it will be the inspiration for several related projects.
One such project will task students with identifying vocabulary words in the text. They must note where they found the word, research its definition, and include the information on yellow cards. Those cards will be combined to create a yellow brick road — like the one made famous in the story — throughout the school hallways.
Teacher Katrina Rocco pointed to the word “cyclone,” which is featured in the first chapter read by Mr. Tromblee. Mrs. Rocco explained why the word was worthy of highlighting — because the term is not commonly used in this region.
The kick-off event began with music teacher Mary Landry and several students performing the song “Over the Rainbow,” which was written for the renowned 1939 film “The Wizard of Oz.”
Before students exited the assembly, Ms. Duffy led students in chanting: “There’s no place like FGL! There’s no place like FGL!”
She then added: “You have been a great audience. Welcome to Oz!”
