Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — This school year, the English Committee at Pava’ia’i Elementary School brainstormed on the most effective way to host Literacy Week, which was celebrated Oct. 15-18th. They wanted to come up with something to engage the little ones and at the same time, provide activities to stimulate their love of reading and writing - all while keeping with this year’s theme: “Power in Literacy”.

Events such as a teacher swap read aloud; school-based spelling bee; door/dress-up contest; literacy-rich mural project competition; and literacy professional development for teachers, were well received by students and teachers, said the school’s English chair, Mrs. Su’a.

“The purpose of our Literacy Week was to motivate, empower, and assist students in reading and writing,” Su’a said. “We wanted to promote our love of literacy to all children and help them to become strong, skilled, lifelong readers and writers.”

Pava’ia’i’s Literacy Week kicked off with a spectacular “Door & Dress Contest” on Tuesday. Each cluster was given a Disney reading book theme to decorate one door from their level, and one main character dresses up to complete their packet.

• Cluster 1 (K5 – Level 2): “Moana”
• Cluster 2 (Level 3 – 5): “Beauty & the Beast”
• Cluster 3 (Level 6 – 7): “Trolls”

“We were blown away by all the doors and costumes, and we want to thank every single one of our teachers and levels for their participation, time, and support,” Su’a said. “They all made the competition more fun and we hope they all learned from it, and enjoyed participating in it as much as we did.”

Wednesday was “Teacher Swap Read Aloud Day”, where teachers swapped places and spent the morning teaching and reading aloud - engaging with their new classes. Su’a said it made for an “exciting morning of wonderful sharing, learning, and appreciation for the hard work our teachers do on a regular basis.”

“This was the perfect opportunity to share ideas and knowledge, as well as learn about instructional practices in different grade levels,” she added.

Thursday was Literacy Professional Development for teachers. Invited presenters were Lance Glodowski from the ASCC (TED Program) and Clarinette Eves who shared “their knowledge, experiences, and vision” with the Pava’ia’i staff. “Our goal was for [this[ to be a learning experience of powerful literacy skills, methods, and more,” Su’a explained. “The presenters did an amazing job.”

The finale was the completion of the literacy-rich mural projects,. Each level was assigned a wall/area on campus to work on. Teachers were to ensure that the final product aligned with the theme, while parents and other members of the community were invited to assist with the artwork.

Altogether, nine murals were completed all over campus. “The mural competition has helped create a literacy-rich environment, promote reading, language, and writing, and design an attraction for our school community,” Su’a concluded.

The paint, decors, and all materials utilized in the door/dress up and literacy-rich mural competition were provided by the teachers. Prizes for the competitions were made possible by donations from the community, including Reps. Larry Sanitoa and Samuel Meleisea; Am Samoa Community Health Centers executive director Kenneth Kuaea; Bluesky Communications; and Lima Fesoasoani.

“Thank you all for your strong support and for helping incentivize our students’ Literacy Week efforts. Faafetai tele lava! God Bless you all!”