Haverhill Elementary students are enjoying a new room this year full of comfortable chairs, pillows and sofas. It’s just the kind of place a kid might want to curl up and read a book.

And they do, by the dozens.

The reading room is one of several projects launched this year to get Haverhill students and staff excited about reading. Arts, gym and music teachers are starting their own book clubs, which they hold in the reading room.

Bus drivers are reading to kids or encouraging them to pick up their own books when they arrive at school early. And a group of fifth-graders who are particularly enthusiastic about reading have started making videos about what it’s like to be a reader.

“Reading is cool here now,” said Jean Russell, a literacy specialist and teaching coach who helped get the projects off the ground. “Everywhere you go people care about reading and value reading.”

Russell said the new initiatives have turned Haverhill into a “community of readers,” where everyone is eager to talk about books and listen to their friends’ recommendations. Aside from being enjoyable, Russell said, reading as a child can lead to better standardized test scores and higher paying careers later in life.

The first movie made by the fifth-graders was called “Readers have a favorite book” and the second was called “Readers know how to find their next book.” The films were shown throughout the school, and then posted on the Internet, where they generated thousands of hits.

“I’ve been here for five years, and the school has changed a lot,” said fifth-grader Caroline Wilson, one of the filmmakers. “Now everybody is reading a lot more.”

dhaynie@jg.net

Events

•Fort Wayne Community Schools’ elementary, middle and high schools will welcome families and prospective families to visit during open houses this week. Open houses will be from 9 to 11 a.m. and 1 to 3 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at the elementary schools, with the exception of Bunche Montessori Early Childhood Center. Open house at Bunche will be from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and noon to 2 p.m. on the same days as well as an additional open house from 3 to 5:30 p.m. Feb. 19. Open houses at middle and high schools will be from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

•IPFW associate professor of mathematics Matthew Walsh will present “The Mathematics of Code” from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Science Central.

•Area fifth-graders are invited to test their academic skills from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday during the 5th Grade Scholar Challenge. Parents of participants are invited to visit the middle school campus at 5601 Covington Road from 9 to 10:30 a.m. that day to meet Canterbury faculty and students during the competition. In addition to scholarship awards, need based financial aid is available to participants who qualify. Register for the challenge at www.canterburyschool.org/challenge or call 407-3553.

IPFW

•The Office of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs will present “African-Americans in STEM Related Career Fields,” from noon to 1:15 p.m. Tuesday Walb Union, Rooms 114–116.

•Ricky Kemery of the Allen County Extension Office will present “Gardening for Busy, Stressed-Out, Space-Challenged People,” and storyteller Chief Condra Ridley will present “Stories From the African-American Tradition,” 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Walb Union, Room 114-116.

•On-site help from financial aid experts will be available during College Goal Sunday 2012 from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday in the lobby of Neff Hall.

•Assistant Professor of Philosophy Abraham Schwab will present “Facing Death Like a Professional: Navigating the Healthcare System at the End of Life” at noon today in Science Building, Room 168.

Huntington

•Huntington University’s Joe Mertz Center for Volunteer Service will host a blood drive from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday in the upper level of the Habecker Dining Commons.

Trine

•Trine University will host its ninth annual Black and White Scholarship Gala at 6 p.m. Saturday in Ketner Sports Center. All are welcome to attend. Tickets cost $75 each. Please RSVP by Feb. 3 by calling 260-665-4114.

Saint Francis

•The University of Saint Francis will host a free public lecture by local photographer Stephen Perfect at 7:30 p.m. today in the North Campus auditorium as part of its Closer Look lecture series.