This fall, Whiting Elementary School (WES) participated in the One School, One Book program. As done nationally, One School, One Book is when a school selects a book and each student in the school receives a copy to read at home as a family. In true Whiting School fashion, the WES community executed this national reading program in a way that brought together the entire Manchester community.
Planning for Whiting School's One School, One Book initiative began this past summer. Whiting parent Mrs. Ipock suggested to Principal Swift the idea of a school initiative that would highlight the importance of accepting the physical differences in one another as a value. Principal Swift saw this as an open opportunity to incorporate Mrs. Ipock's idea with Whiting School's One School, One Book initiative through the book Wonder. The decision to move forward with the book Wonder by Palacio, R. J. was made, and the execution of Whiting Elementary's One School, One Book was in motion.
A main component of One School, One Book is the purchase and distribution of the decided-upon book to the students. Books were purchased thanks to the generous donation made by Philly Phaces. Philly Phaces is a grassroots, all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that Whiting parent Mrs. Ipock is a part of which focuses on children with congenital facial abnormality in the Philadelphia Metro Area (https://phillyphaces.org/). Wonder was the book distributed to Whiting families in grades 3 through 5 and We Are All Wonders was the book's age-appropriate counterpart distributed to students in grades K-3.
At Whiting's back-to-school and book fair nights in September, Principal Swift mentioned the initiative to parents which was wildly well received. Teachers incorporated reading Wonder into their classroom instruction, families excitedly adopted reading schedules for home, and the parent volunteers began to mobilize and assist in the culminating activity planning.
To kick off Whiting School's final week of One School, One Book, World Kindness Day brought WES students a special guest speaker from the Children’s Craniofacial Association (ccakids.org). The speaker was a student from St. Peter's University who was joined by her family to share her story. The theme of the inspiring discussion was "different is beautiful" and engaged Whiting's students in an impactful dialogue with the guest speaker.
Friday of the same week brought the culmination of Whiting School's One School, One Book initiative with a drive-in movie night. Thanks to Whiting parent volunteer Mrs. Pinho, the evening was funded 100% by community donations! Manchester Township High School was the location for the event which brought approximately 100 Whiting School families together to watch the movie Wonder during a fun drive-in moving experience. The heartwarming event featured movie treat trays for each car, snacks available for purchase, and students enjoying pre-movie games and family time together followed by the movie screening enjoyed in the comfort of their own cars!
Thank you to the following community donors who helped make Whiting School's One School, One Book initiative a memorable success:
Philly Phaces/Lindsey Ipock - Wonder Books
Auto Deluxe Center LLC
Sonia Pinho
Joe Pinho/McCarthy Tire Service
Mayor Robert Arace k
Arbor Smith Tree Service LLC
Protastic Cleaning/Painting/Lindsey Ipock
HTJ Lawncare & Landscaping
Sean Conniff LLC
Conniff Construction Co.
KC Marketplace/Christina Kine
The Haven Group/Jessi Allen
Manchester Township PBA
Erica Weaver