Monica Burke’s fourth grade class at Sawgrass Bay Elementary celebrated their love of Harry Potter on May 21 at Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
Left to Right (top): Carmen Candelaria, Miguel Candelaria, Martin Castillo, Kami Heiny, Neal Brady, Alexander Brady, Miss Burke, Dr. Julio Valle, Kati Pearson, (third row) Sonny Rivera, Adriana Paredes, Andrea Godoy, Kaitlyn Johnson, Yosimar Melendez, Joshua Cruz, Joshua Valentin, Christian Guevarez, Carla Vega, Alexandria Seelmeyer, Mohamed Allajjeh, Enelio Farina, (second row) Valeria Guzman, Destiny Johnson, Monica Mondesir, Neizaliz Santiago, Angel Torrez, (first row) Jillian Shomper, Nicole Myers, Chrystal Gomez, Brandon Mendoza, Kevin Alvarez and Pierre Betancourt.
The students completed reading the first and second books of the series and their teacher surprised them with a free trip over the weekend to promote a love of reading and to bring their favorite characters to life. A class set of the first two series of the books as well as other resources were donated by Kati Pearson, Director of Learning Zones for Lake County Schools.
“Over the course of the year, my students have fallen in love with J.K. Rowling’s magical story,” Burke said. “We have used the book as examples for new concepts and I really wanted to show them that reading has major benefits.”
Dr. Julio Valle, Jr., Principal at Sawgrass Bay Elementary, said, “Miss Burke’s class, who has won the school’s ‘AR Star’ every month this year but once, attributes her student’s reading growth partially to the Harry Potter series.”
The financial side of the costly trip was covered through a grant from Wal-Mart, Sawgrass Bay’s PTO and various friends and family close with Burke. Dr. Valle and Pearson celebrated with the students as they toured Hogwarts Castle in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
“As a classroom teacher I used the Harry Potter books and to this day still have past students comment to me about how that series sparked in them a true enjoyment of reading,” Pearson said. “It was an honor to provide another group of students the opportunity to benefit from the magic of Harry and fall in love with reading.”
The Sawgrass Bay Elementary class will have finished the first three books of the series by the time they venture on to fifth grade.
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