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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATE: 14 December 2006 SUBJECT: Good Hope Participates in an International Worldwide Reading Record Attempt
The judges are still counting participants in what promises to be an event that broke the world record for the most simultaneous readers at different locations. The Good Hope School joined in the effort of Walden Media to unite the world with story on Wednesday, December 12, 2006 . A passage from E.B. White's classic Charlotte's Web was read aloud by over 60 students in grades 2-4 at The Good Hope School at exactly 1 p.m. Atlantic Time. Meanwhile, over 500,000 other readers from all over the world at that precise moment read the same passage. Raquel Cedano, Director of Lower and Middle School, along with third grade teacher, Sana Hamed-Asad, coordinated the event that took place in the Ward M. Canaday Library. Lawyer, Ricky Evangelista monitored the event as the official record keeper and is assisting the school in submitting paperwork to Walden Media that they will use to certify all readers for the world record attempt. While the event was truly fun for all involved, the values behind the effort are what the students focused on. It was a way of making geographic and cultural connections, as students from as far away as Malaysia participated, and as close as Puerto Rico . Mrs. Cedano noted the story of Charlotte's Web is one of friendship and selfless acts. The December theme in the Lower School 's character education program focuses on compassion; using literature such as Charlotte's Web to demonstrate to students the true meaning of words is effective. Activities around the record attempt included county fair milk shake recipes, making pigs-in-the-blanket, and assigning roles for the upcoming play of this tale in Ms. Hamed-Asad's classroom. According to Guinness World Records TM , the current record for the largest number of people reading the same piece of literature aloud, simultaneously, in multiple locations is 155,528 students from 737 schools throughout the United Kingdom. They read William Wordsworth's poem "Daffodils" on March 19, 2004. The International effort expects to surpass the record. According to a press release from Walden Media, student group size ranges from 1 home school student in Iowa to 3,086 students in Salem , MA . The same press release made note that " Islands like Haiti , Virgin Islands , and Puerto Rico will participate." Ms. Hamed-Asad stated "it is fun for us to sometimes take part in activities off-island to connect our students to the world."
The Good Hope Lower School reads Charlotte's Web in an attempt to break a world record. |
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