By Stephanie Chick,Lisbon High School

On March 17, a group of students from Lisbon High School set off to do something great. At 11, when most freshmen and sophomores were getting on their buses to go home, 17 stayed behind eating pizza, anxiously awaiting their turn to ride the bus. But this group was not going home; they were going to the newly-built Lisbon Community School. Not only were the high school teens there to read, some were read to, or even got a chance to be a fitness buddy in the enormous gymnasium.

The whole three minute ride was spent discussing how we hoped the kids would act, and for some-how we imagined the school might look. Once we arrived, we received a small tour and I received a big jaw-dropper. What a fantastic school!! We were split up into groups of three or four and were each assigned a different second grade classroom. My group and I walked into our assigned room and took a seat. We were told that the kids were out at recess, and that they would be in shortly.

Soon, the classroom was full of snowy kids either saying to themselves, or a friend, “Hey. They’re here.” or “Who are they?” The teacher introduced us and quickly sorted them into groups and we started reading. They seemed very excited, and lots of giggles were exchanged. The books I read ranged in topics from leprechauns, to detailed trips with dolphins and eventually to overnight adventures in the woods.

Before long, our time was up in the second grade, and I felt bad, not being able to read every book that the kids had chosen for me. We reassembled in the hall once more and it was onto first grade; I was actually starting to feel at home in this brand new environment.

The first graders in my group had picked out a book that they wanted me to read and several that they were going to read. They were excited also, and they were such GOOD READERS’ Again; I felt horrible, having to leave so soon, and not getting to everyone’s selections.

Our high school group met in the hallway once more, to sort us into two groups, fitness buddies and reading buddies. I chose to be fitness. By the time my group got to the gym, the class was already in session, so we had to wait a few minutes. While we were waiting, some of the fitness buddies decided to read to the kindergartners instead. That left two of us on one side of the divided gym. We didn’t have to wait that long until the next class came in with curious but happy faces. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do anything but warm-ups, but those were fun. We said goodbye after lots of “Who are you?” and “DO you know wo-and-soand-so?”. We gathered together once more to board the bus, and rode back to our school, just in time to get on the second round of buses.

Congratulations to all the staff and students who made this day a success!!

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