DAY OF THE DINOSAURS

Plains School was invaded by prehistoric animals Friday, but they weren't the normal dinosaurs. They had names like T-Rex Thompson, Coal Colyer and Big Red. They turned out to be school staff – Casey Thompson, Tyrel Allen, and Kevin Meredith – dressed in dinosaur costumes and they were managed by Paleontologist Pete Thom Chisholm, the school superintendent.

The dinosaur raid was part of the school's I Love To Read Program theme "Dino-Mite Book Fair, Stomp, Chomp, and Read!" which is held during the month of February and hosted by Gena Ferlan and her Title 1 staff. Two hundred and forty-six students from kindergarten to sixth grade took part in the month-long program, which involved a contest to read as many books as possible from Feb. 1-28. The students received points from .5 to 30, based on the difficulty level of the books, according to Ferlan, who has run the program for 11 years. It also included a book fair and a free bicycle presentation by Masonic Ponemah Lodge 63 of Plains.

The names of two students from grades three to six were drawn for the new bikes. Mason members present were Ron Warren, Tommy Tompkins, Tommy Tompkins Jr., and Bill Burrell. The top readers this year were third-graders Tia Bellinger, who accumulated 45 points and Mika Schulze (66 points), fourth-graders Marina Tulloch (53.9 points) and Carson Bechtel (105.1 points), fifth-graders Macey Malmend (43.7 points) and Ruthie Uli (77.5 points), and sixth-graders Layla Harris (135.3 points) and the top reader Mackenzie Tulloch, who read 16 books and received 168.3 points. This was Tulloch's third year to take part in the program. She said she loves to read and her favorite books are fantasy fiction.

The bike winners were third grader Jordyn Baganigan, fourth-grader Vince Heathers, fifth grader Antoine Schaff, and Mackenzie Tulloch. Isabella Chaney of the third grade was selected as an overall winner and also received a new bike. The money for the bikes comes from the local Masonic lodge and the Montana Masonic Foundation, which donated around $50,000 for the bike program last year.

Students from kindergarten to second did not compete for the bikes. The top readers for kindergarten were Ryker Anderson and Christian Christianson, first grade Lila Holloron and Kage Tuma, and second grade Talon Ferlan and Briauna Kulawinski.

This year's program included a three-day book fair in the school library and the First Annual Family Fun Night, held Thursday in the cafeteria. The evening included crafts, snacks, a dinosaur photo booth, and prizes. The teachers had the opportunity to preview the book fair on Wednesday. Second grade teacher Lindsey McGee won a raffle that gave her $50 worth of books for her class. The elementary school teachers and students also decorated their halls with a jungle motif to go with this year's theme.

The national I Love to Read Program was established to encourage children to read, which Ferlan said is a primary path to knowledge. She said reading is essential for intellectual growth, teaching the kids spelling, vocabulary, punctuation, composition, and comprehension. She said that according to research, a student who reads one minute a day will be exposed to 8,000 words a year and normally scores in the top 10th percentile on standard tests. Ferlan said children should read a minimum of 20 minutes a day outside of school. A child that reads 20 minutes a day would be exposed to 1.8 million words a year and usually scores in the 90th percentile on standard tests. She believes reading is a good way for family members to spend quality time together.

The I Love to Read month assembly also included entertainment for the students and school staff. Several students were teamed up with the school dinosaur staff member to compete in a "Dino Relay" game, where the teams had to run to the other side of the gym and collect pieces of a dinosaur puzzle one at a time. Once the puzzle was put together, they had to build a hula-hoop hut. Chisholm's team was first to complete the puzzle, but Meredith's team finished their hut first and won.

The assembly also included a volcano eruption demonstration. Carl Benson's chemistry class made two cinder cone volcanoes for the exhibition, although one caught fire during class. The volcanoes were rigged with ammonium and dichromate, which were lit to simulate an eruption. With the lights turned off, the students could see the volcanoes' flames and sparks spurt from the mouth, pouring ash down the sides.