Barnyard friends abound at Northside Eat and Read event

Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Jamie Janes (center) and his family listen to Harold Holt (right) explain how his hive of honey bees works, during the March 29 Eat and Read event at Decatur Northside Elementary.
Westside Eagle Observer/MIKE ECKELS Jamie Janes (center) and his family listen to Harold Holt (right) explain how his hive of honey bees works, during the March 29 Eat and Read event at Decatur Northside Elementary.

DECATUR -- Baby chicks, lambs, rabbits, bees and even a milk cow paid a visit to Decatur Northside Elementary in Decatur on March 29 to help the SPARKS after school program celebrate its April Eat and Read get together.

Students had the chance to hold one-day-old baby chicks, watch a live beehive produce honey, and milk a wood cutout of a cow complete with working udders.

The barnyard animals, flowers and good food were just part of the evening's festivities. The real start of the program was about books. Books about the barnyard, books about farms, books about the forest and even books about outer space were available to kids from kindergarten through the eighth grade.

A few Northside teachers and parents gathered in the library for storytime, a popular activity of the Eat and Read program.

Like the March program, the purpose of this event is getting kids motivated enough to put down electronic devices and pick up a good book to read.

The book giveaway was provided courtesy of the Northwest Arkansas Books for Kids program.

General News on 04/10/2019