- May 5, 2024
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There was a crime scene at Wadsworth Elementary School the night of Thursday, Jan. 22, and students in the Panthers Guys Read Book Club helped to solve the case.
In the mock crime scene set up by Forensic and Evidence Unit Supervisor Laura Pazarena, of the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office, a thief broke into the library and stole a first-edition autographed copy of “Dead City,” by James Ponti. Students in the club applied knowledge they learned from reading the graphic novel “Solving Crimes with Trace Evidence” to help them to fingerprint the library and search for fibers with the help and supervision of Pazarena.
The club, which focuses on fathers and sons reading together, was started last school year by Media Specialist Marilee Palot.
“I got to thinking about the boys in fifth and sixth grade who are kind of falling through the crack,” she said. “Our students are required to get reading counts point every grading period. So they come in, and the boys in particular, pick out these books, ‘Trudy the Snow Fairy,’ because they’re quick reads and they’re three or four points. And then they say they don’t like to read.”
Knowing that if a father reads for pleasure in the home the male students often follow suit, Palot came up with the idea of doing a father/son club in hopes of reaching struggling readers.
“The students I was targeting are the struggling readers, but most of the boys here are rampant readers, and, talking to the fathers, I can tell that they already read in the home, so it proves what I’m saying,” Palot said. “But for those few boys who are struggling readers, they get encouraged by this program. They come in and hang out with these rampant readers, and they get excited about reading.”
One student, who was already enthusiastic about reading, is Adam Waszkiewicz, who attends the males-only club with his father, Marcin.
“It’s a good father-son experience,” Marcin Waszkiewicz said, adding that his son has been active with the library and helps put books away during his lunch time. “We discuss the book as we read it at home, so that’s kind of an involvement we didn’t have before.”
Author James Ponti also joined the club Thursday night after spending the day speaking with Wadsworth students about the writing life and how he came from being a reluctant reader as a child to being an author. His book, “Dead City,” is on the Sunshine State readers list this year.
“Without a doubt, from the writing standpoint, boys are our hardest target, and so if their fathers or male role models want to read, it’s only going to encourage them more,” Ponti said as boys in the club lined up for him to autograph his book.
But the club is not just about reading, it’s also about discussing what’s being read and relating it to life for the students. For discussions at meetings to be strictly male, Palot leaves the room, allowing a couple male teachers to lead the discussion.
“I believe the discussion that guys would have would be different if a female was present,” Palot said. “And all their teachers are female. So I really wanted the male aspect of it.”
The club has room for 15 student members but as of the last meeting, only had 10, leaving room for more interested students to sign up. “Solving Crimes with Trace Evidence” was the first nonfiction book and first e-book the group has read. Future books will all be print-based on the preference of both the boys and their fathers.
“I think that this is a great example to follow for different schools simply because it takes the kids away from the TV time and computer gaming, and they’re still reading the actual books,” Marcin Waszkiewicz said. “When we get together, we discuss the book together as a group. I really like it, and I hope different schools will follow the idea.”
