Fair Grove’s middle school and high school librarian, Chanda Lemon, took students who read Gateway award books on a field trip to Kum and Go on April 30th.
Lemon stated that, “I handed out multiple copies of these books earlier in the year and if the students have read two then they are eligible to attend this field trip.”
Amber Clemens (11), a member of book club, listed five of the Gateway Award books she read, “…Fade Away, In the Wild Light, Donuts and Other Proclamations of Love, The Hollow Inside, and What Beauty There is.” Out of these 5 books she mentioned that she recommended Fade Away, which she read in two days.
Middle school students were also invited to go on the field trip along with high school students in book club if they read two of the Gateway Award books.
Lemon rewards students with this field trip to bring recognition to students who read the Gateway Award books. Gateway Award books are selected by MASL (Missouri Association of School Librarians) which benefits students by exposing them to quality literature and giving them the opportunity to read a variety of different genres of books.
On April 24th high school book club had their last meeting for the school year, at which Lemon handed out the new Gateway Award books for students to get a head start on reading over the summer.
Some memorable events in book club for the 2023-2024 school year Lemon mentioned was the Book Swap and the Book Fair Scavenger Hunt.
When asked what her favorite part of book club was June Chumbley (10), a member of book club who also read the Gateway Award books, said, “My favorite part is doing crafts and talking with my group. We always have some interesting conversations but they are enjoyable nonetheless.”
Some crafts book club has done over the years includes making “Bookmark Bats” a holiday themed bookmark for students to keep track of which page of a book they are reading. Another craft they have done is repurposing old books and using their pages to make paper flowers.
Chumbley read four of the Gateway award books and out of the four she stated that her favorite was a book titled Eat Your Heart Out, this was a book about zombies with constant action throughout the entire book.
A few reasons other book club members joined this club was simply that they enjoy reading and book club was a great opportunity for students to meet other people who share the same interests.
Book club meets once a month throughout the school year and is a great way for students to discover a variety of different book genres.
