Dear Panther Parents,

The PBL Junior High community is excited to announce a new and exciting reading program at your child’s school. During PANTHER Time (Putting Aside Nine To Have Enjoyable Reading Time) the entire junior high will be reading a novel together throughout the month of April. PANTHER Time will take place during the last nine minutes of homeroom everyday. Teachers will read the novel aloud to their students and encourage open discussion afterwards.

The School Improvement Committee has selected Jack Gantos’ Joey Pigza Loses Control as the first PANTHER Time novel. Gantos’ book addresses many themes, such as peer pressure and family struggles, which are socially relevant to most junior high students. To learn more about this novel and other books by Jack Gantos we recommend visiting his website at www.jackgantos.com.

If your student is currently enrolled in Band or Chorus during homeroom they might not hear the novel read aloud to them everyday. Instead, we will be encouraging these students to use the PBL Junior High Library to check out a copy of the novel or listen to the book on tape. If you are interested in purchasing Joey Pigza Loses Control for your home library, Amazon.com has the book available for $3.00 plus shipping and handling.

Thank you for your support,

Jeff Graham

Principal

Paxton-Buckley-Loda Junior High

School Improvement Committee