Warrenton Grade School rolls out reading passport

Published 7:00 am Saturday, March 7, 2026

Warrenton Grade School rolls out reading passport

“Reading can be exciting and take kids into cool new worlds,” Warrenton Grade School Principal, Liane Donovan, said. Donovan was describing part of the motivation behind the school’s new independent reading reward program, Passport to Reading. The primary goals of the program are: to bring excitement to reading at home and engaging students, families, teachers and community in exploring curiosity and relationships through books.

Kindergarteners through fifth grade students at Warrenton Grade School each received a passport-like booklet where they can collect signatures to report five books they’ve read each month. Passports are used to earn special treats donated by a different local business each month.

Warrenton Grade School’s Passport to Reading program celebrates small-town family, business, reading and curiosity as it is funded by local businesses, teachers, staff and parents.

Donovan, hired this school year and coming from a grade school in Arizona, reflects on the time that has been shifted from reading books to screens. “Kids who practice reading are more likely to become readers. The goal is to get them practicing — it may be a pastime they enjoy,” she said.

An extensive August 2025 study, in the journal iScience by Jill Sonke, Ph.D., shows that reading for pleasure has decreased 40% since 2003. This study and others reference direct connections between reading for pleasure and education, mental health, empathy, creativity and lifelong learning — all pieces of Oregon’s Department of Education Transformative Social Emotional Learning Standards, adopted in 2023. Sonke, director of research initiatives at the University of Florida Center for Arts in Medicine says in the iScience article, “Reading has historically been a low-barrier, high-impact way to engage creatively and improve quality of life. When we lose one of the simplest tools in our public health toolkit, it’s a serious loss.”

While she is excited to reward reading for pleasure, Donovan also acknowledges that not all households can provide the same resources of books, space, time, support, attention, or safety. “Teachers have been really good at identifying kids who may need extra support with their passports and providing incentive time in school.” She noted the books of varying levels and topics for individual needs that are available in classroom libraries, the public library, and over 13,000 books in the school library.

Donovan also shared a goal of her own is to build relationships with families in the school. “Everybody sends their very best kids to school. They don’t have another set at home, and we’re going to do the very best with who they send us, and we hope that we’re going to come together as a team and support them to learn and grow, and be able to make any choice they want as they get older.” She emphasizes that she wants this reward program to be comfortable for everybody and that kids may read to their folks or vice versa — both are celebrated.

Daisy Fancourt, Ph.D., a professor of psychology and epidemiology at University College in London and collaborator on the iScience article stated, “reading with children … supports not only language and literacy, but empathy, social bonding, emotional development and school readiness.” Principal Donovan seeks growth in all of these components and is reaching outside the school walls.

“I had a parent come to me the other day, crying, because her second grader had read a book to her, that he’s been struggling with some reading,” Donovan shared, ”and some of the things we’ve been doing in school have been helping him read, and he really wanted his donut. And so he actually did the reading to make sure he got that, and his mom said, ‘you know, it was slow, but it was the first book that he’s read.’ And when I hear a story like that, it’s worth it.”

People and businesses interested in donating rewards or time as reading volunteers can contact the district office. “We’ve got a lot of time that we would love to have people come in for a part of the community and sit and read with kids, because the more adults they get to know, the more trust they’re gonna feel,” said Donovan. So far, local sponsors include Main Street Market, Anrnie’s Cafe, Dairy Maid, The Human Bean, and El Compadre.