Peaceful and one of the warmer days of the year so far, Friday was perfect for Goodyear Elementary School’s annual Lunch and Learn on the Lawn event — aside from the gnats, that is.
The pesky insects didn’t dim the bright smiles of staffers, who welcomed parents to the school as they picked up their lunches and went straight to the lawn behind the school, picnic blankets in hand.
Neither did the bugs dampen the spirits of Goodyear Principal Alicia Flowers, who buzzed through the crowds, busy as a bee, making sure everything was going as smoothly as possible.
Flowers said reading is perhaps the most essential skill a school can give a child, but that kids learn most effectively — and succeed more in the long term — when their parents are willing and active participants in their education.
That’s the reason for the event, to get kids and their parents together to read.
“Some parents don’t know how to help with reading,” she said. “Here they can see our teachers model that, what questions to ask, etc. They can also bond with their child.”
Teachers brought their classes out to the field by class, starting with the kindergarten and first graders, followed by the second and third graders and, finally, the fourth and fifth grade classes.
Otis and Belinda West spent a lot of time at the school in two reading sessions. Their children Xavier, Ariana and Aubrey are in third, fourth and fifth grade respectively. Both were very interested in making sure their children knew someone would always be there for them.
“This is what says a lot, when your momma or daddy or grandma or grandpa or auntie shows up for you,” Belinda West said.
Kayla and Patrick Coughenour agreed. They brought camp chairs well before their appointed time to make sure they were there when their son, Michael, came out of the school building. They always want to be there for Michael. It’s very important to them to take every chance to be part of his education, they said.
“We just love to be present in his life, it’s so important,” Kayla Coughenour said.