As most of us know the DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) program was introduced to us only a year ago. This year, every Wednesday during Pioneer Power, students in every class read the same ReadWorks article outloud with their peers and teacher. Mrs. Adams chooses the article each week, and students are encouraged to discuss the contents and take a brief quiz online after reading the article together. Although some students think it’s unimportant, Mrs. Adams and Mrs. Benton say that it is important.

“It is a way to students get involved, and voice their opinion.” The program is used to get us to read once a week, and hopefully get us to enjoy reading. The idea is that reading things we don’t necessarily know anything about broadens our horizon and increases our knowledge, all while improving our reading skills.

Another reason the DEAR program was originally implemented was to allow the school to keep track of student reading skills.  Although we are all in high school, our reading levels may be below or above high school level, and the online quizzes afterwards allow the school to see students’ progress.  There are many different reasons DEAR was brought into our school, and although some disagree about its importance, the DEAR program is here to stay.