OGDEN -- Some Taylor Canyon Elementary students experienced two new things Thursday morning: They helped break a world record, and they were read to by a Braille reader for the first time.
Students across the Top of Utah participated in the nationwide Read for the Record event where high school students or adults read children the book, "The Snowy Day" by Ezra Jack Keats during the day.
To beat the record, 2 million children were planned to be read to. In the Ogden School District, Ogden High School teacher Suzie Davis, director of the Future Educators Association for OHS, organized the event for more than 1,500 students.
Students in Thaise Rodriguez's fourth-grade class got to see the pictures as the book was read to them in Braille by OHS junior Paula Ward.
Ward has oculocutaneous albinism and is progressively losing her sight. It has gotten more difficult for her to read print, so she's in her second year learning Braille.
She works on her skills for an hour after school each day with Becky Weeks, her teacher from the Utah School for the Deaf and the Blind.
Ward said she was nervous when asked to read in Braille to a class. She is a member of the Future Educators club that was reading to students, but felt a little shy about doing it using Braille.
Part of Davis' motivation for having Ward read in Braille was that a student in Rodriguez's class, Kalea Acuna, is blind in one eye and is also learning to read in Braille with Weeks.
Ward knows other people think it's a great talent to have, but she feels a little embarrassed about it and nervous.
"It was really scary," she said about starting to read the book to the students. But once she got going, she realized how great it was for them.
The students were impressed with her ability and loved rubbing their hands over the Braille words. Weeks had made several copies of the book in Braille so the students could experience it as well.
Students had many questions for Ward and Weeks, such as how the alphabet works and why she needs to read in Braille.
One student observed that it would be an advantage to be able to read Braille because books could be read in the dark. Some students were starting to pick up simple words in Braille after a short lesson.
Weeks has been impressed with Ward's diligence in learning Braille.
"She is just a really wonderful person. I mean, can you imagine with all that high school kids have going on and then to study Braille for an hour each day? It is amazing," she said.
Acuna was thrilled with Ward's reading.
"It was so nice they thought of me," she said with a grin.
She and Ward said reading in Braille is a challenge, but it's also very rewarding to learn.
Ward plans to be a teacher for the visually impaired once she graduates from high school and college. Because her mother teaches at the Utah School for the Deaf and the Blind, she has seen how many students she has helped and wants to do the same.
Davis was impressed with Ward and her other students who traveled around to schools all around the district, including Taylor Canyon, Polk, Odyssey, Dee and Shadow Valley elementaries.
Read for the Record started in 2006, and this is the Davis Future Educators' group's third year helping break the record.
Each year, more students have been added to the record list. Last year, they read to 1,000 students.
The high school students passed out stickers that stated they had broken a record for the day, and the elementary students proudly attached them to their shirts.
"Did you know today that Justin Bieber is reading this exact same book to other students?" Davis told some of the students.
They were impressed that the singer was participaing, and although the book was a pretty basic book for older grades, they enjoyed participating in the record-breaking aspect.
Ward told students that everyone can enjoy a good book no matter what reading level it is. "And you know you can always read books like this to your little brothers and sisters."
Comments