Tuesdays have quickly turned into the week’s most favorite day!
We’re introducing you to a Northern Michigan elementary school principal and how she’s taken story time to an entire new level. She’s reading bedtime stories to her students, live on Facebook every Tuesday night.
“She always finds the best books to read to you!”
“She helps us learn.”
“She is bright, she’s really funny, and she likes to joke.”
A fantastic introduction to Winn Elementary School’s principal — Mrs. Richards.
“I love for kids, for them to know me as a person outside of this office. I want them to know me like I know them,” Mrs. Richards says.
It’s her 31st year in the classroom — and when she became principal three years ago — she wanted students to get to know her in a pretty memorable way.
Richards says,” I was trying to think of something different that I could do to have the families get to know me. I had seen another teacher in a different state on Twitter that was doing tucked in Tuesday’s. So I started to have my families meet me online with this tucked in Tuesday before I started, so when the kids started school, they already kinda knew me.”
Every Tuesday night at 7:30…
“I broadcast live every week.”
A bedtime tradition to get students EXCITED about reading.
Richards says, “When kids get bit by that bug of wanting to read and then you know that the magic’s gonna happen…it let us feel okay to read a book together, and cry and feel, and let us hear a book together and laugh about it. It gave us chances to talk and just be a family. Tucked-in Tuesday let us do that.”
And just as Mrs. Richards hoped — Her students got bit by the reading bug! Making Tucked-in Tuesdays easily their favorite day of the week.
“I think it’s really fun! My favorite book is Mama Bruce.”
“Sometimes she leaves cliff hangers and pretends that she’s gonna stop reading, and turn off the video and then all of a sudden she starts reading again!”
“It’s better than being here because you’re at home and you can snuggle with your brothers.”
“You see these really cool books, and then you don’t know what’s gonna happen in the story.”
But in Mrs. Richards’ story, her pages are filled with life’s biggest gift…
Richards says, “Giving kids and families the love of reading out loud it’s probably the biggest present I can get. I feel very connected to my students and my families because of that relationship with books. Just instilling that love of lifelong learning and reading is probably my biggest reward.”
And it’s not too bad when your students become your biggest fans.
“She’s like a cool grown up friend.”
“Mrs. Richards is the best principal of the whole entire world.”
“I just wanna be like Mrs. Richards.”
From the sounds of it, Mrs. Richards has left quite the impression on her students. Or mayyyyybeee it’s the other way around…
“They mean the world to me. I kind of think about them as being part of my family, I’m their school mom. These moments for us and connecting and making relationships with kids is why I come to work everyday.”
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