On Oct. 27, there was a whole lot of reading going on in Mount Joy. Students at Donegal schools as well as children at the Milanof-Schock Library participated in Jumpstart's Read for the Record challenge to promote early literacy. The campaign is known as the world's largest shared reading experience, bringing together millions of adults and children as they read the same book on the same day and build an intergenerational community through reading.

About 40 Donegal High School student-athletes in grades 11 and 12 traveled to Donegal Intermediate School and Donegal Primary School to read this year's book, "Nigel and the Moon." On the same day, the library's director of children and youth, Jan Betty, read the book during story time. The Norlanco-Rheems Kiwanis Club purchased copies of the book for the classrooms at the primary school.

Betty reached out to Alex Stam, a social studies teacher, and Hannah Ferrara, head of the high school's English department, to recruit students to participate in Read for the Record. The teachers saw the event as an opportunity to connect their students with the community. "An event like this is important for many different reasons," Stam shared. "It's important for us to be connected. Our motto is Every Name, Every Need, One Tribe. Even though we are separated by buildings, we are One Tribe."

Ferrara emphasized the relationships that were created at Read for the Record. "The high-schoolers that participated in the event remembered when they were in the primary and intermediate school when they were read to," she said. "It's a special opportunity for all students, and it's so cool to see the impact it has on both the older and younger students."

Both teachers said the activity was well-received by everyone involved. "The readers enjoyed seeing all the students, reading to them and asking and answering questions," Stam remarked. "The younger kids loved it. They were so attentive during the story and asked some great questions to the high-schoolers."

Ferrara added that the interaction went both ways. "(The younger students) answered questions the high-schoolers asked them, too," she commented. "We heard what so many of them wanted to be when they grow up."