Giving Back: Students Shine at NYC P.S. 3 Poetry Reading
Two fifth grade classes at New York’s P.S. 3 Charrette School in Greenwich Village, our downtown Read-Ahead school, recently presented the P.S. 3 Poetry Reading to celebrate the completion of IF I WERE A SUPER MOON, I’D SHINE SO BRIGHT I’D LIGHT UP THE NIGHT, a collection of poems and illustrations from a number of the school’s students.
Coordinated and sponsored by Penguin Random House, this special collection recognized 60 students who joined together and wrote hundreds of poems during National Poetry Month. For most students, it was their first published work. More than 25 parents and teachers beamed with pride while listening to their sons and daughters recite their own poetry as well as share their illustrations and artwork that accompanied the poems. 
With the active participation of P.S. 3 teachers Lindsay Tomao (pictured), Lindsey Halligan, and Tara Cox, along with Principal Lisa Siegman and Assistant Principal Regina Chiou, this poetry writing program took place over five classroom sessions and provided additional support to Penguin Random House’s existing P.S. 3 partnership with Read-Ahead and employee volunteer reading mentors. The writing exercises were based on odes, places, sketches, haikus, rhymes and artwork, among other topics. For example, after a discussion about color, each student chose a favorite color and wrote an ode dedicated to and in celebration of their chosen hue.
Ms. Tomao said, “By filtering poetry to its essence rather than its structure, Penguin Random House made poetry accessible to even the most reluctant student of English Language Arts by giving them the freedom to focus on the sounds of words beyond the phonics of spelling. I’ve never seen some of my students as engaged and invested in their learning as they were during the Penguin Random House Poetry workshops.”
As part of our mission to nurture the next generation of writers and readers, Penguin Random House supports this program through the Read-Ahead partnership – providing employees an opportunity to give back to the community in which they work. Penguin Random House has over 100 employee volunteer mentors and our partnership has evolved to include: author and illustrator visits, poetry workshops, book donations and various student-related events throughout the school year.
To view this year’s impressive P.S 3 poetry collection, click here.