While summer vacation is meant for fun and relaxation, the concept of summer reading brings back the reality of school for most students.

For the 2017-2018 school year, students were asked to read a work from the following list: Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly, Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell, and The Day the World Came to Town by Jim DeFede.

On Sept. 19, HHS held an extended homeroom wherein students were expected to discuss the texts they read. The school-wide assignment required students to create a Google Slides presentation responding to a prompt that addressed thoughts on characters, plot, and relatability to the novel.

“I had previously seen the movie Everything, Everything so I was really excited to see it on this year’s list,” senior Gina Clementi said. “I actually enjoyed reading the book and felt that the discussion deepened my understanding of it.”

Despite having a variety of works to choose from and two months to read, many students still opted not to complete the summer reading assignment. The directions for the homeroom activity asked for honesty from these students, giving them an opportunity to create a presentation explaining why they did not participate in the task.

“This is a serious request for information to assist in planning for future summer reading,” Principal Karen Bingert wrote in an email explaining her instructions. “Your reasoning will assist the staff in making choices moving forward.”

Reasons for not completing the summer reading varied from student to student, but popular causes included an overwhelming amount of assignments from other classes, lack of interest in the selection of novels provided, and lack of time.

“I felt that I didn’t have any time to read the summer work because of my other classes,” senior Jack Edwards said. “Because I take AP classes I had other assignments that I prioritized over the school-wide read.”

Whether or not students completed the summer reading, the assignment served to prepare the student body for long year of learning ahead.