CRANBURY: Students do ‘hat trick’

By David Kilby, Staff Writer
   CRANBURY — For Read Across America Day at Cranbury School, students had visits from Trenton Devils hockey players Ryan Hayes and Matt Lombardi and children’s author Marcie Aboff.
   To earn a visit from the hockey players, students had to be in the class to read the most books within a month in the third, fourth and fifth grades. The students also had to write short book reports on the books they read.
   The competition is part of the Hat Trick for Reading program, which is one of three programs in the PLAY — Promoting Learning Among Youth — program sponsored by the Trenton Devils minor league hockey team. The other parts of the program are Face Off for Fitness and Gear Up for Safety.
   The program is called the Hat Trick for Reading because, while in the program, students are encouraged to read three books a month, and they get rewards if they reach that goal.
   Some of the rewards students received for reading included Trenton Devil lunch bags, flags, magnets and schedules. But the biggest award students received for reading was a free ticket to the Trenton Devils game Friday, March 25.
   The winning class for third grade was Paulette Kane’s class. Her class read 123 books, including 42 by Isabel Sethi.
   Isabel was at the Cranbury Public Library with her mother after school the day she met with the hockey players. Her mother, Natalie Ye, explained how Isabel’s interest in reading began.
   ”When she was young, we’d always read to her in both languages,” said Ms. Ye, while explaining Isabel also reads many books in Mandarin. “Before kindergarten, she could read books herself. We don’t limit what she reads so she just grabs whatever books she likes.”
   ”I like mysteries,” Isabel said, “and I like fiction books.”
   The winning class for fourth grade was Lisa Csatari’s. Her students read a total of 50 books. Tiffany Huang read the most books, 14.
   Laura Munice’s class read 51 books, making it the winning class for the fifth grade. Rutha Chivate read the most books in the class, reading 14.
   The fourth and fifth grade classes did read longer books, said Marie Mattes, reading specialist for the school and facilitator of the Read Across America events.
   Mr. Hayes, No. 18, and Mr. Lombardi, No. 14, spent the afternoon reading to the students in the winning classes and signing autographs on the prizes they distributed.
   Mr. Hayes read “Brady Brady and the MVP” to Ms. Kane’s class. The book told the story of a young hockey player who dreamed of scoring a winning goal, but at the end, he learned being a good teammate and a good sport are what’s really most valuable.
   Ms. Kane explained how her class managed to read so many books in one month.
   ”There were several (students) who were just super motivated,” she said. “They just carried the other kids along. It was a slow start. We only had 14 books read in the first week so they really pulled it together toward the end.”
   The first thing Ms. Csatari’s fourth-grade class asked Mr. Lombardi and Mr. Hayes was if they could have the players’ autographs.
   So the players took the time to sign whatever the students brought to them.
   Ms. Csatari explained how much her students love to read.
   ”They read things all of the time,” she said. “They came into fourth grade loving to read. I almost didn’t have to do anything. They’re just doing what they always do, honestly.”
   Among the winning classes, Ms. Munice’s class had the most questions for the hockey players. They asked things like “Have you ever been hurt?” “How many teeth have you lost?” “How many concussions have you gotten?” and “Have you ever scored a goal?”
   Ms. Munice said she loves to read, and she passes that love on to her students.
   ”I encourage them to read all of the time,” she said. “I tell them about the books I’m reading to further encourage them.”
   She added, “A lot of the boys like World War II books. The girls like independent girly books that have to do with school, boys and relationships.”
   She said she reads a great deal from Patricia Polacco’s books to her class.
   ”They all have a good message, but also a bittersweet ending,” she said.
   ”If you read any of those books, you’ll cry,” said Emily Curran, one of her students.
   ”It was fun, a good day,” Mr. Hayes said after visiting the three classes.
   ”When we were little, I remember people coming to visit our class,” Mr. Lombardi said. “I grew up in the Boston area, and the BU and BC hockey teams visited us. Growing up in that area those are the teams you look up to.”
   ”I’m just really proud of all the students,” Ms. Mattes said. “This is in addition to all the reading they have to do for classes.”
   Ms. Aboff came to the school the day after the hockey players. She has written dozens of children’s books, such as “Building a Winner,” “The Lemonade Standoff,” “Hootie Joins In” and “The Pizza Palace” as well the two books she read to first- and second-graders Wednesday morning — “The Giant Jelly Bean Jar” and “Just Right.”
   ”Writing is something I have always loved to do,” Ms. Aboff said. “After I had my first son, I was able to stay home and read some children’s books to him. I thought this (writing children’s books) would be a really fun thing to do.”
   She now has 50 books published by a variety of publishers, including Penguin and Scholastic.
   ”We’ve always supported Read Across America,” said Cheryl Coyle, volunteer and past president of the PTO. “There’s a strong emphasis on writing and its connection to reading in this school.”
   Ms. Coyle said four of Ms. Aboff’s books are in the school’s “Good Habits, Great Readers” literacy program. She said the PTO chose Ms. Aboff to come to the school because it wanted not only an author, but one who emphasized the importance of writing.
   After reading to the first- and second-graders, Ms. Aboff conducted a writing workshop for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders.
   ”We are grateful to the PTO for bringing this exciting author to our school on Read Across America Day,” Ms. Mattes said.