Dear Oblock Families,

One of the most important goals at Oblock is to create lifelong readers, who find books, authors, and genres they love, and continue to do so long after they leave these halls.

Book Up!

At the beginning of December, Oblock students began participation in our school-wide reading initiative, Book Up.  As part of this program, students are allotting the first 15 minutes of each study hall period to put their devices down and to pick a book up.

This aspect of the initiative is meant to help our students on a multitude of fronts:

• Student academic performance has been shown to increase exponentially with just 15 minutes of daily reading.

• Stress and anxiety for adolescents is at an all time high, so giving permission to slow down and decompress has become all the more important as a coping tool for our students.

• Screen time is becoming more prevalent in our students’ lives, and studies show the importance of striking a healthy balance of time away from devices.

• Time is precious in the hours after school with the demands of sports, activities, and classwork.  The in-school reading time allows students to complete their daily independent reading homework for their reading and English classes, thus opening up time for other responsibilities outside of school.

May you have a happy, safe, and book-filled New Year!