Students get a Swift lesson on the importance of reading

Sayreville Middle School participates in Internet chat with singer Taylor Swift

BY STELLA MORRISON
Staff Writer

SAYREVILLE — Pop singer-songwriter Taylor Swift has a positive message for children around the globe: Read every single day.

Scholastic Books teamed up with Swift to telecast an appearance at Sayreville Middle School and hundreds of other schools around the world to watch an interview with the star about her favorite books and how reading has positively influenced her life.

“They can relate to her, and she can relate to them,” Mary Cinalli, an eighth-grade teacher at Sayreville Middle School who helped plan the event, told the Suburban.

Swift’s songs are known to feature literature, most famously a song centered on Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet.” She has been active in public and school libraries in her home state of Tennessee and has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to helping those places thrive, according to Sayreville Middle School librarian Katie Llera.

“Scholastic hosts this telecast with other celebrities, showcasing what books have influenced their lives,” Llera said.

Llera and Cinalli contacted Scholastic to bring the program to Sayreville Middle School. Over 100 students showed interest in the after-school program, but only 63 were allowed to attend. The students snacked while watching Swift answer questions about her childhood, the song-writing process, and the inspiration behind her 11 No. 1 singles.

“I became obsessed with poetry pretty early on,” Swift explained when asked about her early beginnings as a writer. “I loved Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. Those were my favorite books to read because they sounded like a song.”

Swift’s writing skills were first noticed when she was a child, after turning in a fourpage essay in the first grade.

“The teacher told my mom at parentteacher conferences, just letting you know, this may be an area that she’s interested in,” Swift said. “From pretty early on, it was obvious that I wouldn’t stop writing. I just always loved telling a good story.”

Swift’s songwriting began when she was 12 years old with a song called “Lucky You” that leaked onto the Internet.

“I sound like a chipmunk, but I look back on my first experience with writing, and each one turned me into who I was going to be,” Swift said. “I can’t discount the creations I made when I was really young.”

Swift’s fourth and most recent album, “Red,” was released Oct. 22. Scholastic connected the album to the event, stating that “Red” stands for “Read Every Day,” Swift’s goal both for herself and for her fans.

“I try my hardest to read every day,” Swift said. “I try to read a long article so I can stay informed with what’s going on in the world.”

Contact Stella Morrison at [email protected].