Students and staff at Waverly Park Elementary School kicked off their annual Pick a Reading Partner week on Jan. 31 with a school-wide pep rally. The PARP program was established by the New York State PTA to encourage students to read in school and at home.

This year, Waverly Park students voted for the PARP theme that the school followed from Jan. 31-Feb. 7, resulting in “Book to the Future, Reading Through the Decades.” The school’s PARP committee hosted the pep rally to get students excited about the week ahead. 

Several Lynbrook South Middle School students, with the help of their music teacher Annie Pasqua, helped bring the celebration to life by performing the NeverEnding Story theme song with books in hand. Waverly Park students also learned more about what to expect during PARP week and some of the fun activities planned. This included dressing for the different decades, an author visit from Booki Vivat, guest readers, a trip to the Kindergarten Center to read to students and a timeline graffiti wall activity. 

In addition, the school planned to host their annual “PARP wRap Up” contest. Using a FlipGrid code, students were encouraged to create their own parody or original song about reading, PARP or “Book to the Future” by filming a fun FlipGrid video. The winners of the contest served as guest DJ’s during lunch on the last day of PARP.
  
Waverly Park teachers performed cartwheels during the pep rally and students participated in a GoNoodle movement activity called “Not Dog Time Machine.” Students had fun following along with the video as it related to the PARP theme of time and the future. At the end of the celebration, Principal Allison Banhazl presented Waverly Park’s new photo backdrop. She told the students that the backdrop would be stationed in the school lobby throughout PARP week to take photos with.