Breann King, an Exceptional Children specialist at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, sat in front of a class of Hidden Valley Elementary School students in a long floral dress and slippers on Friday. She was dressed as the Little Old Lady Who Wasn’t Afraid of Anything, the titular character of the book she’s reading.
She chose the book, in part, because it had a pumpkin in it, making it timely for Halloween. But she also liked that it had engaging sounds.
Students at Hidden Valley Elementary School celebrated Halloween with members of the community, who spent the day going classroom-to-classroom, reading books for the school’s inaugural Fall Read-A-Thon.
King was one of about 20 volunteers from the community who brought in their favorite book — and dressed as their favorite character — to spend the day with students.
Principal Erin Barksdale-Coles got in on the fun, too. She was wearing rainbow stripes to look like the character Camilla Cream from the book “A Bad Case of the Stripes.”
“It’s an opportunity for the kids to be able to dress up, see new people in their building, listen to a really good book, talk about the book and just have a good time in school,” she said.
She said it also helps ensure the community is involved in building literacy skills, a major focus for the district.
