Ever heard of J.D. and the Great Barber Battle? You would if you were an Essex Elementary School (EES) student. The entire school is involved with the book through the One School One Book program, a national initiative designed to create a bridge between reading at home and reading in school.

And even if you don’t know the book, the subject is a familiar one: a bad haircut. Who hasn’t had one of those?

Leah Page, the 3rd- to 6th-grade reading specialist who organized the One School One Book program at EES, explains that students read the book both in class and at home with an adult. They discuss and do activities involving the book in both locations. Some 15 minutes of the classroom day is devoted to the project.

“The book is full of joy and family and independence—things I am passionate about,” Leah says. “Teachers and families both breathe life into it. It’s a partnership.”

The reading program even extends beyond the students and teachers. The office staff at EES reads the book, and the paraprofessionals also read the book.

The purchasing of the books, some 263 copies in all, was made possible by a grant from the Essex Elementary School Foundation. The foundation supports a number of enrichment activities at EES, including the World Culture programs, STEM Lab, and the Scientist in Residence program.

Kindergarteners have the book read to them, while some 6th-graders act as read-aloud buddies for lower grades.

“Kids like knowing a 3rd-grader and a 6th-grader can be reading the same book,” Leah says.

At one parent-teacher conference, a mother admitted that she not only enjoyed the book, but that her daughter was pages ahead of her in the story.

Given the pull of electronic media, Leah points out that encouraging kids to read is a central job for both parents and teachers.

“Whenever parents take out a book and read in front of their children, they are showing that while it is true that reading is an important part of school, it is even more important to enjoy it,” says Leah.

Equally, Leah credits EES Librarian Renee Mitchill, as well as librarians at both the Ivoryton and Essex libraries, for their ongoing support of school reading programs.

Leah, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, is a graduate of Penn State University and has master’s degrees from both Hunter College and the Columbia University Teachers College. Leah always knew she wanted to be a teacher, as her mother was for 30 years. She started in special education in New York City and later worked as a middle school literacy teacher and literacy coach.

After the birth of their first child, Leah and her husband Aaron moved out of the New York Metropolitan area to Connecticut. Aaron had grown up in Wallingford and had worked summers at Camp Claire in Lyme.

Memories of a visit to Chester stayed with Aaron, and the couple moved to the community in 2015. Now, their family includes both a 10-year-old son, Gus, and a 7-year-old daughter, June, both of whom are students at Chester Elementary School.

Aaron recently took over for retiring longtime Chester Parks and Recreation Director Liz Netsch as the new director of the commission.

Aaron has worked as both a teacher and a camp director in the past, but the pandemic made a significant change to the way the Page family organized itself. Somebody had to be at home, and that somebody turned out to be Aaron. Leah and Aaron developed a new term for his work. He was the “Home CEO.” During his CEO period, Aaron also served as president of the Chester Elementary School PTO.

Now, Leah says that Aaron’s new position with Parks and Recreation is ideal for him.

“I am so proud,” she says.

Leah has also joined one of Aaron’s programs: Tuesday night basketball at Chester Elementary.

“Kids play against parents. It is so much fun. He organized it for March Madness” she says.

Leah is also looking forward to a women’s basketball program starting up in April.

Other exercise for Leah includes walking a pet that she describes as a “crazy dog.” Certainly, the dog is an unusual mix: a Bernese Mountain dog-poodle that Leah calls a “Bernedoodle.”

When she is not working with students or teachers on reading, Leah says her own reading is often feminist fantasy with a favorite author, Leigh Bardugo.

“The books take you to another world where the playing field becomes even,” Leah explains.

Still, Leah says that the playing field is not even enough.

“Thank goodness my daughter will never have the same things,” she says.

The One School One Book program was scheduled to finish by the end of March. Still, Leah has hopes that its success will encourage the district to undertake it again. In the meantime, there is something that Leah is looking forward to: She will at last have copies of the book for her own family to read.

For more on the Essex Elementary School Foundation, go to: essexesf.org.

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