Harrison High School Institutes "The Big Read" for Summer 2013

The English Department at Harrison High School has instituted "The Big Read," a summer reading program for all grade levels in which a shared text – "This, I Believe, The Personal Philosophies of Remarkable Men and Women" – is assigned reading for students during summer months in 2013. 

Upon returning to school next fall, according to a letter from the English Department on school district website,  the book will be used as a "cornerstone text" for conversations and activities to unify the students, parents, faculty and staff of the Harrison High School community.

The book, a collection of essays, features well-known list of contributors including Isabel Allende, Colin Powell, Gloria Steinem, William F. Buckley Jr., Penn Jillette, Bill Gates, and John Updike, as well as some unknown writers, and is based on the National Public Radio series of the same name.
 
Students are expected to read the entire book over the summer. The hardcover is 282 pages long. Families are invited to read along with their children and engage in conversations about the essays. Then, in the fall, students will compose their own personal essays about the beliefs that guide their daily lives.