Associate Judge Ruth Lofthouse read “Abe Lincoln’s Hat” to the 3rd grade students in Ms. Lenay Trevithick’s class at Westfield School located in Winthrop Harbor last month. | Facebook
Associate Judge Ruth Lofthouse read “Abe Lincoln’s Hat” to the 3rd grade students in Ms. Lenay Trevithick’s class at Westfield School located in Winthrop Harbor last month. | Facebook
Judges from the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit recently visited 14 schools as part of the Illinois Judges Association Reading Project. The initiative was started by Judge Mary S. Schostok of the Second District Appellate Court, who previously served with the Nineteenth Circuit.
Schostok said in a news release from the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit, "This reading deficiency affects student learning and contributes to the high school dropout rate. Our reading project is one small step which we hope will inspire young students to appreciate the value of books as they learn a little about history and our system of justice directly from a sitting judge."
According to the news release, 21 judges from the 19th Judicial Circuit participated in classroom visits, where they read books to students while dressed in black robes. They also donated items during their visits to 25 classrooms, engaging with a total of 610 students. The Illinois Judges Association sponsored the donation of twenty gavels through its Page It Forward Program, while the circuit provided 624 coloring and activity books.
The release further states that students and school libraries received 257 books funded by donations from the Illinois Judges Foundation. These included titles such as "Malala: A Hero for All," "Abe Lincoln’s Hat," "Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman," "George Washington’s Dog," and "Who is Ketanji Brown Jackson."
Associate Judge Bolling W. Haxall visited three second-grade classes at Westfield School in Winthrop Harbor, according to the release. Associate Judge Ruth Lofthouse read "Abe Lincoln’s Hat" to third-grade students in Ms. Lenay Trevithick’s class at Westfield School. Ms. Jill VanDerveer’s third-grade class at Everett Elementary School in Lake Forest was visited by Associate Judge Jacquelyn D. Melius. Circuit Judge Jorge L. Ortiz engaged with Round Lake High School's ninth-grade English Honors students and those at Magee and Round Lake Middle Schools' Honors English classes. Additionally, Circuit Judge Marnie Slavin visited Our Lady Of Humility School in Beach Park, where she read "Escape North! The Story of Harriet Tubman" to Ms. Sarah Farrigan’s second-grade students.
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