Literacy Honor Cords

     

I'm super excited to get LIT this year with literacy honor cords available to earn from the library! I've been looking for a way to really create a culture of literacy at my high school, and I think this is a fun and important step to take in that process.

A few weeks ago I posted on the ALA Think-Tank Facebook group asking folks to share their fabulous secondary library webpages.  One of my new librarian friends shared her website and it included info about their literacy cords.  I was intrigued and began searching out info from other schools who also gave these.  I only found one other school (full disclosure I did not spend weeks upon weeks searching---this from a cursory search) who bestowed these, but I love the idea and decided to run with it.  I messaged my friend, too, and she clarified a few things about their specific program for me.

After coming up with an initial list of requirements, I met with the National English Honor Society sponsor to get input, and now I've  sent it to our principal for approval.  I'm meeting with him next week to see where things stand.  Once I have it set in stone, I'll post it on the blog.

Honor cords weren't a thing when I graduated oh-so-long ago, and I didn't realize what a HUGE deal they are to the kids until I moved up to work at the high school 3 years ago.  Dude! They are serious about these and it becomes almost a competition of sorts to see how many you can earn. 

I'm all in.  While I don't love giving trinkets for reading, I DO love the idea of treating reading as something worthy of honor at graduation.  Let's reward our students for their hard work and commitment to reading.