Pastor Stearn reads to Giltner kindergartners
It’s a sight for passerbys in the hallways at Giltner Elementary School as kindergartners rush in from recess back into the classroom. Fueling the excitement for kindergartner Nora Stearns was seeing her grandparents Bill and Natasha Stearns with Bill being one of the latest additions to the class activity Mystery Reader.
“She didn’t know that it was going to be her grandparents,” stated kindergarten teacher Jayden Eby. “You could see that she was super excited when she walked in and saw them.”
Being a first-time teacher at Giltner Elementary School, Eby came up with Mystery Reader as a way for families to become more involved with the kindergarten class to get students passionate about learning.
“I wanted to incorporate more of getting the families involved with the kids and I just had the idea of like, ‘What if I bring in a a guest reader?’” Eby explained. “I opened it up to a couple of high school teachers and then I thought that I should open it up to parents and having them come in or grandparents, aunts, uncles or anything like that.”
Finding readers
After sending a Google Form out to families, Eby also branched out to students and staff at Giltner Public Schools with times and dates for Mystery Reader.
“We started in the second semester and I just gave them every Friday that we had available for them to choose from,” she explained. “They signed up and then any openings I have, that’s when I’ll ask a high school teacher.”
In addition to other teachers, high school students such as senior Marshall Humphrey had the opportunity to make an appearance in Eby’s classroom.
“They really look up to the older kids and the older teachers here,” Eby commented. “That’s been fun to bring them in just to get that kind of experience to see those people that they look up to.”
As the semester progressed, Eby shared that Mystery Reader had become just as much of an exciting activity for the readers as it had been for the students.
“I would say most of them are super excited whenever I ask them,” she said. “I know when I’ve asked just teachers, my family members or the high school student who came down like they were, ‘Yes,’ right away. They’re super excited.”
For the Stearns, being able to make a surprise visit to their granddaughter’s class was an opportunity they couldn’t miss.
“My daughter Molly just called me one day and said, ‘Would you like to come and read to Nora’s class?’ and we said we would love to,” Stearns shared.
Once the mystery reader has been set, Eby gives her students three clues that hint at who is going to be the next reader to visit their classroom.
“I give them their first clue Wednesday, on Thursday their second clue and then their last clue is the day of so they know that’s when the mystery reader is coming in,” she explained.
Leading up to Stearns’ visit, the students were given the first clue: ‘the mystery reader has two grandkids at Giltner;’ the second clue -- ‘they are used to reading to people because they read to people every Sunday;’ then finally the third clue was ‘at the building they work in, they have a room where kids get to play.’”
“It definitely makes them think and often the person who was related to the mystery readers have absolutely no idea that it was going to be them,” Eby said.
The kindergarten teacher highlighted the activity’s positive impact through the filmed moments of students when they realize a loved one is the featured reader.
“Sometimes we recorded their reactions and they’re usually screaming or they freak out, because they don’t usually know if it’s going to be their parent or grandparent,” Eby said.
Building up to their day, even the readers find themselves anticipating how the reading is going to go.
“They had came to me and they’re like, ‘What books should I pick?’” Eby shared. “They had told me that they had practiced reading the night before, because not a lot of people are used to coming into the classroom and reading to kindergartners and kindergartners will say whatever. I knew some of them get a little nervous, but once they start reading, they usually get settled in.”
Since starting Mystery Reader, Eby noted that having a new person read each week outside of herself has made them more attentive in the classroom.
“It just makes them excited about reading,” she observed. “It has them more focused and they’re definitely listening more, because it’s this new person that’s in there that they’re excited for.”
A ‘beloved’ storytime
When mystery readers visit, they can pick out a children’s book of their choosing to share and read to the class.
“A lot of the parents usually choose really funny kinds of stories,” Eby stated. “I had a dad come in and was singing to the kids, so they usually choose a lot more fun, joke-type books.”
For his reading, Stearns brought with him ‘Beloved’ by Jordan Feliz. The book shares the story of a little girl named Jolie, who learns about how she is beloved.
“You’re beloved because you’re a child of God,” Stearns read. “If you’re not fast enough or feel like you’re losing the race, Jesus already ran the price of Heaven for you. If your sand castle gets washed away in the waves, you can look into the mirror to see our Creator’s own masterpiece, which is you.”
The pastor discovered the book while attending a concert of Feliz who was selling copies of ‘Beloved’ there.
“I read it and it just reminded me of Nora,” he explained. “I think it was good to let the kids know that they’re loved. We live in a culture where there’s all kinds of crazy stuff going on and sometimes kids get bypassed. I wanted them to know that they’re loved by their parents, but they’re loved by God even more.”
After reading to his granddaughter’s class, Stearns expressed appreciation for Mystery Reader allowing relatives of the students to become more involved in their lives.
“Anything that we parents and grandparents can do to interact in the kids’ lives, especially what makes them feel wanted and they’re loved,” he stated.