Ethel Jacobsen Elementary School Blog

In March, Ethel A. Jacobsen Elementary School launched the One School, One Book program thanks to the generous grant money provided by the AtlantiCare Healthy Schools, Healthy Children program. The idea behind this program was to have one book sent home to every family in our school so parents could read together with their children. Every student had three weeks to read the entirety of the book with their families. This time together allowed for students to build connections with their family members as they read, giving them the chance to discuss some thematic elements of the book, such as friendship, regulating emotions, and resilience. To build excitement around the book in school, the students took part in a daily trivia question pertaining to the chapters they read the night before. Students also created Me Collages, which were later hung up around the school so that students could share a little bit about themselves with their peers, helping them to form connections and build new friendships with one another. At the culmination of the book, the students took part in school-wide centers, which focused primarily on the elements within our SEL curriculum and teaching resilience. We received a great deal of positive feedback from this program and would love to continue to work with AtlantiCare so that we can again bring this beneficial program back next year!