BY ISABEL GENECIN

On Sep. 17, MHS hosted its first Shared Read Day, a school-wide discussion of the five different summer reading books and their connection to current genetic engineering issues.

The School Board chose to change the summer reading policy from a “One Read” to a “Themed Read” in an attempt give students a choice in their required reading. They chose genetic engineering as the theme because it is a relevant and thought-provoking topic for discussion.

Last year, the One Read discussion was unproductive, because students who did not read the book were able to get through the class without a problem. This year, a test was implemented to solve this issue. Each test consisted of approximately ten questions, but some of the questions were detailed. The Jurassic Park questions, for example, focused only on events that occurred in the book as a way to penalize people who had only seen the movie.

When students heard on the first day of school that there would be a test, many read one of the books that weekend. The test counted as a quiz in the Social Studies department, and knowing that they would be tested motivated many students to actually read the books.

Overall, the Shared Read Day was much more successful than the Home on the Field Day last year, because it was very well planned. Teachers led discussions in the classes instead of seniors, and the class period involved discussion over many thoughtful guiding questions.

In addition, using the video clips to segue into discussing the relevance of the genetic engineering issue was a great way to connect the summer reading with modern problems. The administration also tried to make the Shared Read Day fun by showing the trailer for The Island and hosting an optional viewing of the movie on the baseball field on the evening of Sep. 22.

It is incredibly difficult to choose five books that will appeal to every student in a school with around 1,600 teenagers. Though many have complained about the theme itself this year, the books did cover a wide variety of readers.

Some students will complain about any work that they are assigned over the summer, and others feel that they just cannot handle another book to read. Many kids just do not like to read.

The purpose of having a Shared Read system is not to torture students; the purpose is to try to bring the school together at the beginning of the year. And this year, the incredibly organized event was carried out with impressive precision and succeeded as much as it could have at accomplishing this goal.