Focus on TUSD - November 2007

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All Aboard for a Jungle Tour
Authors Encourage Wakefield Students to Read for Pleasure
It's a jungle out there.

No one knows that better than Wakefield Middle School students who went on a J & P Jungle Tour on Nov. 5 led by the authors of an adventure novel set in Central America. The noise of a heavy monsoon downpour and thunderclaps filled the library where the tourists sat during the multimedia presentation. Monkeys hooted from the trees and insects chirped from the dense undergrowth. Drum beats in the distance signaled nearby natives.

Jon and Pam Voelkel used the jungle backdrop to set the mood and read from their book before giving their audience an up-close look at real life Mayan Emperor Lord Six-Rabbit, who strode into the library wearing an elaborately decorated headdress.

"Who summoned me to walk their world?" he boomed, glaring fiercely at the tourists.

Looking a little closer, the startled students realized the emperor looked suspiciously like their principal, Wade McRae. An ancient jungle king who had been dead for a thousand years, Six-Rabbit had come back to his people, recalling his violent behavior and penchant for human sacrifice.

But McRae had a hard time keeping a straight face for very long as his students cheered and shouted. It was fine with him if the students had a good time during their jungle tour. It was all part of Wakefield's efforts to encourage students to read and, in the process, raise the school's standardized reading scores.

The Voelkels describe their novel, "The Jaguar Stones, Book One: Middleworld," as "Harry Potter meets Indiana Jones." It tells the tale of 14-year-old Max Murphy's adventures in the jungle as he tries to rescue his parents and save the world from the Lords of Death. Along the way, he met Lola, a modern jungle girl, who helped him escape via an underground river.

"I felt like I was actually in a jungle when I heard the thunder," eighth-grader Christian Rios said. "I'm looking forward to reading the book."

His classmate, Manuel Lopez, added, "It was nice to see them, the people who wrote the book. The book is from them personally. And the sound of the thunder made it feel like you were outside."

Wakefield is sparing no effort in this reading promotion. Each of the eighth-graders will have a copy of the book, purchased at a reduced price with grant funds, said Josephine King, the instructional coach. Donations are needed to buy copies for the rest of the students, which would cost a total of $4,300. The Pima County-City Library has purchased extra copies of the book for students, parents and staff to check out.

"We hope this will ignite the fire and get the students to read for pleasure," King said. "It's contagious. Once they read this book, they'll want to read other books, too."

Luz Imelda Cortez, whose sixth-grade daughter, Hilda, attends Wakefield, predicted that kids would be excited about reading the book. And she planned to read the book, too, even though she admitted the story sounded really scary.

More about the authors...

-- By Sharon Dunham
Communications & Media Relations

TUSD - Proud Supporter of Small Classes

Photos in the November issue by Jes Ruvalcaba of Communications & Media Relations, unless otherwise noted.

The deadline to submit material for the December Focus is Friday, Nov. 7. The Focus will be published Monday, Nov. 17. Email submissions to Chyrl Hill Lander or Sharon Dunham in the Communications & Media Relations Department or use the online Tip Sheet.