The English department is adjusting its summer reading program, moving away from the old system that required students to read a particular book. Instead, summer reading will be optional, and students can choose to read any book that they want.
“We’re just going to suggest books for the kids to read and encourage kids to read,” said English department supervisor Mr. Paul Reiff. Mr. Reiff explained that he doesn’t want students to think that summer reading is entirely gone. Reading is still strongly recommended, however, it will now be more up to the students to be proactive to pick up a book.
There were a few reasons as to why the English department made the switch to optional reading. The main reason was that having required summer reading that was tested on at the start of school was homework, and many teachers think that homework should not be assigned for over break.
“Kids should read over the summer,” said Mr. Reiff, “we just didn’t think it was appropriate to assign homework over the summer.”
English teacher Mr. Greg Pedersen, who is in favor of the new change, said “[I’m] in favor of not assigning homework over break and letting break be break… I don’t like the idea of the kids coming in and we immediately hit them with a quiz or an assignment.”
In addition to getting rid of summer homework, optional reading also helps the teachers start the year as they please, instead of being forced to cover the summer assignment.
“There’s other ways I’d rather start off the year to get people into the course than talking about a book that you might have read awhile ago, or you might only be halfway through, or you haven’t read at all. For me, it just didn’t seem like the best way to start off the year,” said Mr. Reiff.
Mr. Pedersen didn’t see a prominent drawback to the new program, explaining that if the teachers do a good job of fostering a love for reading during the year, students will be more prone to reading over the summer. If students don’t read, they can still be reached throughout the school year.
Mr. Reiff is confident that this change is an improvement, saying that “choice is a positive thing.” He conceded that not everyone enjoys reading and that forcing a student to read will not make them like it any more.
LHS sophomore Dylan Seth thinks that the change “will be beneficial to people who like a variety of books or want to choose their book.”
