Harry Potter and Sponge Bob at East Hill? It's Character Day!

Visitors walking through East Hill Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 10 could not help but turn their heads and stare at what looked like characters from their favorite books.

It was all part of the fourth grade's annual Character Day, an event that encourages each student to dive into a book and become one of its characters.

Fourth grade students begin by reading a book of their choosing and then writing book reports to share with the class. Instead of simply reading the reports, students dress up as the favorite characters from their books and present short summaries of the stories to their classes. Each class chooses three classmates—one with the Best Costume, one who was the Funniest, and one who was Best in Character. The best from each class competes for the overall winner in each category.

Later in the day, all fourth graders gathered in the East Hill Library to see each others' costumes and to listen to the classroom champions present their living book reports. Named champions were Best Costume Ross Broady for "John Lennon," Funniest Jocelyn Hammons for "Sponge Bob," and Best in Character Alexis Crewell for "Esperanza." Each winner was presented with—what else? A book.

"This takes the old-fashioned book report and makes it an exciting event," said fourth grade teacher Michele Nare who organized Character Day.

"Students read, write, create costumes, and act. This multifaceted approach allows every child the chance to showcase his or her particular talents. Everyone, from the traditional scholar to the artist, can be successful and can learn from that success."