Noble Bringham ’20
Students were shocked when the Upper School English Department recently decided to reinstate summer reading after a brief hiatus. Summer reading has long been a tradition at Episcopal. English teacher Lee Billmyer said that from the time she was hired in 1985 until around 2016, there was mandatory summer reading every year. Anne Barr, Head of the English Department, says the change to a list of each teacher’s suggestions in 2016 was “..kind of an experiment. We wanted to see if kids would read on their own. It sure seemed to us like they didn’t.”
The English Department chose this year’s summer books using the term “value added.” Barr explained, “So what would be a book that we think kids could read over the summer and not necessarily need a teacher’s guidance?” Introduction to Literature students will read The Age of Miracles, World Literature students will read The Sound of Waves, American Literature will read Behold the Dreamers, Honors American Literature will read Behold the Dreamers, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, A Raisin in the Sun, and When the Emperor was Divine. British Literature will read Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, and Honors British Literature will read Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Much Ado About Nothing, and Dubliners.
The decision by the English Department to resume required summer reading was made several months ago. Barr said, “We spent a fair amount of time discussing…then once we agreed that yes we think it might be a good idea to bring it back then each group of grade level teachers talked about what they thought a good book might be.” Sam Willis, English teacher and Form Dean, and Barr both like the idea of a core text, but Willis is not sure summer reading correlates with a love of reading, saying, “If we knew summer reading correlated directly with a love of reading we would require that every year. I think what we’re doing is reapproaching our educational stance to try and see if this will work more than what we just were doing because as educators if you remain stagnant, you’re not properly serving your population.” Rachael Nichols, an English teacher, said, “I feel neutral about summer reading. I think there’s a case to be made that there’s been a lot of studies about how if you don’t read over the summer that really sets you back. You start to lose all the skills we work on all year long.”
Reactions from others in the community were mixed, with many not aware of the change. When asked his opinion of the English Department’s decision, Kevin Sporici ‘20 said,“Honestly, I’m okay with it because I feel like normally I don’t read that much anymore. It motivates me more if it’s required reading and oftentimes they’re really good selections.” Sporici also said that in recent summers he has read some of the suggested books. “In the past, I’ve read Boy 21 and The Curious Case of the Dog in the Nighttime.”
Karissa Lim ‘20 said, “I personally never really minded the mandatory summer reading other than the fact that we’re going to be tested on it. But I think I would prefer the list that they gave us of the recommended books…But then again some people won’t read if it’s not mandatory.” She said in the past she read several books on the suggested list over the summer. After learning that Honors American Literature students would read several books, Lim added, “Mandatory reading kills love of reading.”
Scott Patterson ‘18 said, “Once you get to school the summer reading tests really hurt people’s grades.”He elaborated, “There’re positives and there’re negatives. They reinstated it because no one reads over the summer. It’s a necessary evil.”