Published March 15. 2025 08:53AM
Reading certainly can take you to faraway places.
Pleasant Valley students went to the beaches of Hawaii with the Parent Teacher Organization’s Literacy Luau on Wednesday night at the district’s intermediate school.
About 300 students registered for the event, which included guest readers, book bingo, a new and gently used book giveaway, word games and refreshments.
Troopers from the Pennsylvania State Police Lehighton barracks gave students a hands-on experience with the patrol vehicles. Students were able to activate the lights and siren and learn about what state police do.
Guest readers in the Storybook Lagoon included Jessie Flickner, Western Pocono Community Library director of youth services; Marta Gouger, Times News editor; state Trooper Casey Rizzo; state Rep. Jack Rader; Staci Gower, Times News correspondent and PTO organizer: and Pleasant Valley staff members.
What’s a Hawaiian island without a volcano? One of the games was an erupting Vocabulary Volcano, with words to form sentences pouring from it.
A creative writing area gave prompts for students to write their own news stories.
The students could also “fish” for words to create sentences.
LEFT: Charlee Sanderson, 11, of Saylorsburg, learns about the state police vehicle from Trooper Matthew Lento, who is stationed at the Lehighton barracks, during the Literacy Luau at the Pleasant Valley Intermediate School.
Troopers from the Lehighton state police barracks interacted with students at the Pleasant Valley Intermediate School Wednesday. From left are Trooper First Class Justin Magluilo, Trooper Matthew Lento and Trooper Casey Rizzo. MARTA GOUGER/TIMES NEWS
Thaddeus Nordyke, 6, of Kunkletown, makes sentences out of brightly colored word pieces during the Literacy Luau. He used words he found and created fun sentences, such as “The sun wore shoes.”
ABOVE: Amelia Izarek and Kensley Christman, both 6, fish for words during the Literacy Luau.