Ezomo and his friends from the village of Sesa spent the entire month of April with 3,600 Chesterfield County Public Schools students. Watch this video to see how a beautiful friendship developed among students, teachers, schools and the author who wrote Ezomo and friends into existence, Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev.

A brand-new initiative — Teachers Reading Aloud & Connecting Kids, also called TRACK — brought “The Leopard Behind the Moon” to classrooms in almost every Chesterfield County elementary school. Grades 3-5 read the book aloud, then students dove deep into discussion questions and activities.

In partnership with bbgb bookstore, Old Hundred Elementary librarian Lara Ivey and reading specialist Lauren Lineweaver and Salem Church Elementary librarian Melissa Urban created TRACK to connect students with an author as a way to encourage reading. A big part of TRACK was students offering insights and asking questions via videos they created and shared with each other and the author online. The program began and ended with the author meeting virtually with all participating Chesterfield County classrooms.

Tags: 07/01/2022