BRIGHTON — Pemayetv Emahakv Charter School joined with schools statewide Jan. 23-27 for the Florida Department of Education’s ninth annual Celebrate Literacy Week, Florida! The week was filled with fun activities to promote literacy and encourage students to keep reading to improve their skills.

Guest readers, field trips to the Billy Osceola Library, a book fair, buddy readers, a door decorating contest and a reading rally kept students busy all week. Activities also included students dressing up like a rock star and a favorite book character, as well as wearing a favorite hat.

“We want them to be lifelong readers,” said instructional coach Victoria Paige. “If they can enjoy reading, they can communicate. It opens doors to every type of communication including writing and speaking. We are starting to see our students do a lot more reading.”

The schoolwide Stop, Drop and Read activity encouraged noses in books for 20 minutes. Buddy readers paired older students reading with the youngest. The Student Council showed off its reading skills as they read to seniors.

During Hats Off to Reading day, kids were decked out in all types of headgear. During a trip to the library for a puppet show, a group of first-graders proudly donned colorful and fanciful hats.

The book fair was open for business all week in the media center. Shopping for books and other interesting things, like cool pens and posters, was a popular pastime for students. Ryanna Osceola, Joss Youngblood and Mariah Billie perused the shelves Tuesday.

“I like that you can take the books home without having a due date,” said seventhgrader Joss Youngblood, 12, who had an armload of books to purchase and another to check out of the media center.

Media specialist Alisha Pearce helped the students as they shopped. She said nonfiction is more popular in the library than novels, “they like weird facts.”

“When they found the joy of reading it makes me feel good,” Pearce said. “When they read for pleasure, they aren’t just doing it because they have to. It makes me feel good when they come in looking for a certain title. I know they will read for the rest of their lives.”

Paige noticed more participation from students, family members and parents this year.

“We want parents to enjoy reading with their children and see the importance of literacy and reading,” she said.