Eighth Graders Serve Up Stories at Starbooks

By Klara Masterpol ’30 of Winchester, an Austin Prep student

Starbooks, a wordplay on Starbucks, transformed Austin Prep’s eighth-grade English classrooms into a café-style celebration of independent reading. Each student selected a book genre that appealed to them, chose a novel, and used it to create a one-pager describing their work. These projects were all presented and celebrated at Starbooks, where students learned about each other’s books. They were given the opportunity to explain what they read to their classmates before going on a gallery walk to explore each book a little deeper.

As they learned, students received hot chocolate and fun treats to match the theme that added to the excitement of the experience.

 

Building Essential Skills Through Independent Reading

“You pick your own book, and no one else has read it, so you have to be on top of it,” eighth grader Karlee Cambray said. “You have a ton of time to do it, so you can’t procrastinate, and you have to be responsible with your time too.”

Through independent reading, students are learning time management and how to manage workload responsibly. By giving students the chance to choose their own book, the program encourages them to discover their interests while also growing a genuine love of reading that will last a lifetime.

The assignment, which is mostly done at home, must be completed on their own time, teaching students to take responsibility in managing their own time. Although teachers check in with them during class time and support them, it is ultimately up to the student to stay on top of everything. They are required to read around fifteen minutes of their chosen book every night, which encourages them to plan their schedules accordingly to get everything done. In addition, since most of their peers will not have read the same book, students must comprehend it fully to answer questions asked in class.

 

The Minds Behind the Idea

Created by Alexandra Galezowski and Kate Cavanaugh, the eighth-grade English teachers at Austin Prep, Starbooks has been a part of the curriculum for three years. “Ms. Cavanaugh and I first came up with the idea for Starbooks a few years ago, and each year we add new touches to make the experience even more special and memorable for students,” said Mrs. Galezowski. “From custom-made bookmarks and coffee-themed stickers to café decorations and treats, every detail is designed to celebrate students’ hard work, encourage a love of reading, and strengthen their presentation and communication skills.”

The teachers have put forth so much effort year after year to make Starbooks memorable for the students. After finding a school doing something similar with Dunkin’ Donuts, they decided to create something special just like that, but with Starbucks. They wanted to use the project as a way to inspire students to read more throughout the rest of the year, and to discover new ideas for what they want to read.

After finding props, materials, and a logo, adding on new ideas and tweaking old ones, both English teachers founded the amazing capstone independent reading project known as Starbooks. 

Ms. Cavanaugh and Mrs. Galezowski said that their favorite part is the gallery walk at the end, where students explore one another’s projects around the room. This is because it helps students learn about new books and genres, but it can also help them to discover new ideas for future independent reading. These teachers truly exemplify what it means to care about your students, and they put forth so much effort to make learning enjoyable.

 

Starbooks: The Student Experience

By the end of the project, students were given a day to celebrate and share their work with their classmates at Starbooks. “It was interactive,” said eighth grader Lydia Trull. “You were assigned a person and they would ask you questions. You really had to know the book inside and out. It was very fun, and everyone had their snacks, and we were all engaged the whole time.”

The cozy, café atmosphere encouraged students to explore different perspectives and dive deeper into the meaning of each book. With hot chocolate, festive snacks, and decorations, teachers transformed the room into a real coffee shop. The coffee shop banner provided the perfect scene for photos and celebration, with even the cinnamon air freshener adding to the café-styled experience.

After a long quarter of reading, writing, and understanding their novels, Starbooks helped students take a moment to be proud of the work they accomplished. After three years of being an eighth-grade capstone project, Starbooks truly recognizes students for their dedication and hard work, but it also creates a memorable experience they will surely never forget.