Italy High School is currently in the middle of its first ever Read It Forward: Pass It On literacy project which will end April 30. The goal is to see how many 7-12 grade students, teachers and staff members will read the chosen book First Part Last by Angela Johnson during April.

On March 29, twenty-five paperback copies of the short novel wrapped in bright green paper were hidden in classrooms throughout the school. Whoever found the packages got to open them and read the novel first. Then they sign the back of the book and pass it on to the next reader.

Readers then can take a short online survey about their reactions to the novel as well as sign the big poster on display in the library. All those who read the novel by April 30 will be invited to a Reader Celebration Party in May.

To introduce the novel to students and staff, several students helped create a “book trailer” similar to a movie trailer to introduce the novel to readers. Students and staff who helped create the online video were Amber Mitchell, Paul Harris, Destiny Guiterrez, Brianna Burkhalter, and Mr. Erik Wilson.

Anyone is welcome to view the online book trailer at the Italy High School website at http://ihslibrary.weebly.com. It is at the bottom of the home page. (Tip: use earphones to hear the background music with the voices.) The online survey can also be found on the home page.