On Dec. 16, 2025, Forest Hills High School held its first-ever Read-a-Thon event in the library. With over 60 students filing in at 4 p.m., this event was truly a hit. 

For our readers who don’t know what a Read-a-Thon is, English teacher Ms. Cittadino explained it best: “Basically, it’s just sustained reading for an hour. There are types of Read-a-Thons where they’re actually raising money for something, but since this is our first one, we decided to just keep it simple and get students engaged with reading for an hour.”

Upon entrance, students signed in, grabbed a snack from a wide assortment of treats set up, and received one raffle ticket. Then, they could pick any book from the library, found a seat, and waited for the event to officially begin.

Essentially, students got to read in four 15-minute intervals with a break in between to spin a raffle and potentially win a prize. Blue Squishmallows, a reading light, and even a Barnes & Noble gift card were just a few of the amazing gifts winners had the choice of choosing from.

You might be wondering… who’s the mastermind behind this?  The answer is: Ms. Cittadino! 

“I went to another school for a training back in October, and there was this sign-up in the hallway for a Read-a-Thon of their own. There wasn’t any information on it, but it did spark a lightbulb for me, and I started looking into what Read-a-Thons are, and then, together with Dr. Van Owen, we created what it is today,” she said. 

This event targeted a crucial goal that our school has been focused on: to build literary skills and make reading something enjoyable to students rather than a chore.

Dr. Van Owen, AP of English, believes that “events like this are super important.”

He explained that “the Read-a-Thon showed us [that] we have enough students here who enjoy reading so much, that if we offer them space and time to do it, then they will.”

Ms. Cittadino added that “this is coming at a perfect time, where a lot of English teachers have ‘independent reading Fridays,’ and so this is just going to further get students excited about reading.” 

One of the sophomores that attended this event said that she found the event “pretty nice… and relaxing.” Other students even said that they wished they had more time to read.

“Our goal was just to create a space where students could come and read. I think we accomplished that goal—actually, I would say we far surpassed it. I don’t think we were expecting as many students to sign up for it as they did, and what a great problem to have,” Dr. Van Owen shared.

Ms. Cittadino had similar feelings about the number of people who signed up and added that “[it] actually would’ve been more, but [organizers] capped it because [the event would] be in the library and there’s not enough space.”

The teachers underestimated the amount of “Ranger readers,” but now that the Read-a-Thon was a hit, a possibility of a future Read-a-Thon seems very likely. In fact, Dr. Van Owen said that he hopes to make them a semesterly event instead of an annual one.

In the future, Dr. Van Owen also hopes for a bigger space. He said, “I think we initially thought we’d start right at 4:00, and we didn’t get started until 4:15, so [we want to make] sure we have at least an hour for reading and definitely [hope to build] in more opportunities for the attendees to talk to each other about their books.”

Future events will be likely be a bit longer, so students can enjoy even more time reading and have time to discuss with their classmates and friends.

With over 100 students on the sign-up sheet, it is understood that Forest Hills High School students are truly interested in literacy and enjoy social events centered around reading. Both of the event coordinators agree that they want to continue doing more Read-a-Thons, so be sure to watch out for them.

Also, a huge thank you to organizers and the library for making this event possible. FHHS’s first ever Read-a-Thon surely is one for the books.