Millbrook eighth-graders receive books at graduation

MILLBROOK — At middle school graduation ceremonies for public and private schools in the vicinity of Millbrook, all eighth-graders received a book of their own choosing, along with congratulations from the Millbrook Rotary.

The program was begun five years ago by the Rotary and provides more than 125 books annually to students at Millbrook Middle School, St. Joseph’s School, Upton Lake School and Dutchess Day School.

Literacy is one of Rotary International’s priorities and Millbrook’s program was begun to encourage summertime reading by teens. There is no book report required and each student selects a young adult book of their choice from a list approved by their teachers.

Each school participating in the program receives an annotated selection of around 25 book titles created by Rotarian Betty Renner, a retired secondary educator, Scott Meyer, owner of Merritt Bookstore and Nancy Rodgers, Millbrook library director. Each school is then free to edit the list and teachers help students select a book that they might enjoy the most.

This year the Holocaust book “Night,� by Nobel Prize winner Elie Wiesel, was the runaway favorite at the Millbrook Middle School, according to Cindie Kish, the Rotary member who started the program.

Kish was impressed that the students wanted to learn more about a topic they had studied during the school year. The committee tries to pick books for every interest. For example, Howe’s, “Moving Castle� was selected as a fantasy, and “Slam,� written by Walter Dean Myers about a teenage basketball player, appeals to lovers of sports.

“It’s nice to have a book you are choosing to read,� Kish said.

Each book is inscribed with congratulations to the students and the Rotary Four-Way Test of the things we think, say and do: “Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build good will and better friendships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned?�

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