On Monday, the Moriah middle school participated in its annual Moriah Reads Day experience. Moriah Reads is a program designed to unite the middle school students as they share day-long activities dedicated to the themes raised by a novel they have all read. This year’s selection, “The Wednesday Wars,” by Gary D. Schmidt, took the students back to 1968 and the social and political issues that plagued the U.S. at that time. During the morning sessions, the students, divided into three learning groups which included a mixture of sixth, seventh and eighth graders, rotated among three learning centers. The first learning center was an encounter with Vietnam veteran Michael Krebs; The second was a viewing of a documentary about the political events of 1968, primarily the presidential election; At the third learning center, students participated in a picture book workshop about the power of illustrated text to promote an understanding of peaceful protest.

The morning learning sessions were capped with a visit by New York State Senator David Carlucci who discussed how citizens can become involved in community issues and make an impact on the decision-making process. The students, thanks to a large group of parent volunteers, then headed to a 1960s lunch extravaganza—in a theme decorated lunchroom—which included special dessert, Chanukah raffles, a Brady Bunch episode and a grand finale architectural challenge, all in keeping with the themes of our Moriah Reads book selection.

The afternoon highlighted the talents of our Moriah staff as teachers ran workshops connected both to the themes of the book and to Chanukah. The students truly experienced this book beyond its cover with a unique Moriah flavor and in ways the author could never have imagined.