“And how can we all make a difference?”Īfter switching tables a third time, participants were asked to talk more about the Wishtree in the book. “How did the tree in the book make a difference in the world?” Duke asked. Then everyone switched tables and new questions were presented. “How does friendship happen? What qualities do you look for in a friend?” The questions inspired discussions at every table. “Why do you think the tree and the crow in the book are friends?” she asked. Erica Duke, a high school senior and the high school’s student council president, asked questions about friendship that related to the book. It’s all of us coming together.”Īs the book discussion was about to begin, a combination of students and adults sat in clusters at the library tables. “So, it’s students, staff, parents and administrators. “I love to bring conversations together around the written word,” Seinfeld said. Six weeks before each meeting, Seinfeld and staff members spread the word about the book that has been selected. The book club meets twice each year in the fall and spring.

I always try to pick books that work around the themes we introduce in the district, books based on kindness, compassion, empathy, respect for differences and welcoming all.” “I’m a former English teacher,” she explained, “so it’s a nice way for me to use the experience I have with literacy to work with a larger community. Laura Seinfeld started the book club seven years ago when she became the superintendent. The allegorical tale about friendship and making a difference in the world is narrated by a tree. The book to be discussed by the students, who were in the second through 12th grade, was “Wishtree,” by Katherine Applegate. 21, as well as the teachers, parents and school administrators, Cheli couldn’t wait for the book club to begin. Like the other students who began to gather in the library on Nov. It was almost time for the seventh annual Oyster Bay-East Norwich Community Book Club meeting to begin. Vernon School Library, fondly remembering the days she’d spent there when she was younger. Oyster Bay High School senior Cheli DeCarolis ran her fingers across the books on the shelves in the James H.

The book wishtree