Sacaton Schools host Family Reading Night

March 4, 2016

Christopher Lomahquahu

Community Newsperson

Sacaton Schools developed its most recent family night around the joy of reading. Students, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade, and their families gathered at Sacaton Elementary School for Family Reading Night on Feb. 25.

They interacted with teachers from each grade, selected reading materials and participated in reading activities.

“The idea is to help parents understand the importance of reading by engaging in fun reading activities,” said Director of Community Relations for Sacaton Elementary School John Timmons.

The students took home books from the event so they can read at home with their parents.

Another important part of the reading curriculum is learning the O’otham language at an early age.

Teachers from the Cultural Language program talked with the parents about learning O’otham through reading games.

Cultural language teacher for SES, Janelle Blaine said that the students are taught about how to form a complete sentence in O’otham and gradually they move on to more diverse vocabulary.

Sacaton Middle School cultural language teacher Marcella Hall said, “It is a working project, we are always building on what we are teaching to the children. Everything that we do in classroom is always evolving.”

Blaine said they also plant traditional vegetables that can be harvested at the end of the growing seasons.

Dinner was served at the beginning of the meeting and Gila River Broadcasting Corp. was on hand to provide information to students and parents about the Gila River Indian Community’s low-power television station.