When I was in elementary school, the year after I learned how to read, we had to take tests to see what our A.R. level was.
I remember taking the test and it was all reading comprehension stuff, of course. And I remember the first time I took it, I was super nervous because I loved to read but what if I actually wasn’t good at it? It had never occurred to me that I could get actually tested, not on my knowledge of a specific book, but on ho well I actually read in any context. So I take this test to find my A.R. reading level.I remember, shortly after, they were telling kids what they’d gotten, and a lot of kids were proud for having some a big higher or whatever, and that was cool.
But they didn’t tell me, at first. I had to wait. And then I got a called out of class. There was a teacher (or two? I don’t remember if the other people present were librarians or teachers) who led me to the library. It wasn’t the little elementary section of the library either. They took me to the high school side, which was odd. I’d never been there
The teachers made a big deal of it. They stood, kind of baffled in the middle of the room, and gestured around. Then they looked at me and said “You can read any book in this school. Any of them.”
This was a connected high school/elementary school and I was in first grade and they were telling me that I could read any book up to what the twelfth graders were reading. The teachers just kept saying “Anything at all in this library, you can read anything in this school. Whatever you want.”
I remember the first time that really and truly hit me, I was allowed free roam around the library while most of the students had to stick to their side and I remember I was so proud. Probably the only thing in my life that I will forever brag about. And yeah, I know bragging is lame or whatever, but seriously. I was this little kid, and I could read better than some of the highschool students and the teachers were absolutely flabbergasted.
This is incredibly cool, oh my gosh.
(Source: ghostrobin)
