Benjamin Logan Middle School language arts teachers recently kicked off a project to share their love of reading with the students and the community, which will continue throughout this summer.
The project began with a social media riddle series created by middle school students that started May 17. A new riddle was posted at the top of every hour. Each riddle was a clue to help the students and community members build a mystery word.
That evening, the mystery word “Wishtree” was revealed. Five random participants were selected to receive a hardcover copy of the Wishtree by Katherine Applegate based on comments and entries into a sweepstakes via social media The winners were Deidra Stanford, Kara Wenger, Gail Finch Hawley, Ashley Ford and Linda Patrick.
In the story, people visit the wish trees to have their wishes granted or a prayer heard. This book was selected for the project because of the sentiment these trees all have in common.
“People use the trees to reconnect with what truly matters to them,” school representatives said. “During these last two months, reconnecting with what truly matters has been on the minds of many as we live in our new normal.”
Each of the very short 51 chapters of this book have been video recorded by the BLMS language art teachers. The first chapter was recorded by eighth-grade student Hannah Phillips.
The teachers hope that the students and families will take time to listen to the chapters which can be found at https://sites.google.com/benjaminlogan.org/wishtree/home.
One of the creative aspects of this project is the school’s collaboration with two local businesses to obtain a donation of trees to support community engagement.
Angle’s Nursery & Landscaping of Bellefontaine donated a scarlet oak tree to be planted on the school campus later this summer. Students and family members will be invited and encouraged to tie a wish on this tree.
Wenger’s Wintergreens of West Liberty also donated a tree and will be providing a gift certificate to one winner from an Aug. 1 drawing.
To have a chance to win a tree, post completed projects to the Activity Wish Tree on the school’s social media page, which will be available throughout the summer.
Deepika Scheiderer, eighth-grade teacher, created the Activity Wish Tree with several activities for students and families. The teachers hope the students and parents will share their completed activities using hashtag #BLwishtree to post photos of completed projects.