OXFORD – A typical board of education meeting usually involves school leaders wearing some semblance of professional business attire. At Tuesday night’s meeting of the Oxford school board, however, the attire was decidedly groovier, with board members and administrators all sporting tie-dyed tees in tribute to a teacher who has spent the last two decades building the district’s summer reading program.
Those familiar with the program may recognize the significance of the psychedelic T-shirts, as Leslie Koopman, the sixth grade reading teacher who created the course, traditionally ends each summer’s session tie-dying with participants.
“After 21 years, we’ve had another great summer,” said Koopman, as she updated the board on the summer’s activities.
The summer reading program consists of hour and a half long classes in reading and math held each day, Monday through Thursday during the month of July. Breakfast and lunch are provided free of charge to participants through the USDA’s Summer Food Service Program.
Throughout the month-long program, kids engage in reading, writing and creative activities and are treated to special programs and field trips. Some of the highlights of this summer’s session included visits from the Ross Park Zoomobile, the Merry Go Round Playhouse and musical comedian Jim “The Spoon Man” Cruise, Koopman reported. A special trip to the ropes course at Afton Central School was of particular interest to the students who participated, and one which they hope to repeat during the school year.
Next summer will be the program’s 22nd year, but it will be the first without its creator and long-time leader at the helm. Going forward, the program will continue under the guidance of sixth grade math teacher Patrick Moore, who taught fifth and sixth grade math during this summer’s session.
“I just feel it’s time to pass this on to somebody else,” an emotional Koopman told the board, announcing her intention to step down from heading the program she started in 1988.
“It was just luck,” she explained, describing the program’s inauspicious start with just ten students and a $500 grant from the Raymond Foundation. Over the years, the program “mushroomed,” she said. It is now staffed by 11 teachers who serve upwards of 150 students each summer. The program receives tremendous community support as well, with more than a dozen local businesses, community groups and individuals providing monetary and in-kind donations to ensure its continued success.
To show their appreciation for Koopman’s efforts, the district’s board of education presented her with a card and a tie-dyed T-shirt created by Amy Branham, one of Koopman’s former students and the daughter of Board Member Mary Branham.
“Leslie is an exceptional teacher,” said Mary Branham, who described the gift as a simple way of saying thank you to Koopman for all she has put into the summer reading program since its inception.