The summer reading webpage cheerily announces on lths.net, “Continue to cultivate the habit of reading and escape into new worlds this summer with a good book!” Now, I understand that many students lack enthusiasm for anything school related during long summer days, and that isn’t by any fault of their own— but reading a book cover to cover in those laid-back summer months can be enjoyable and worthwhile for students, and there are many good reasons we’re given this assignment each year.

The reading lists themselves are expansive and diverse. The list for all freshmen, sophomore and non-AP upperclassmen alone includes classics from industrial England like “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, contemporary family dramas like “Along for the Ride” by Sarah Dessen and intense sporty reads like “The Closer” by Mariano Rivera. Our interests are as diverse as our student body is, and our reading lists accurately reflect that. Summer reading can be as appealing to the protein-chugging jock as it is to the girl who goes straight home to catch up on “The Bachelor.”

LT’s summer reading program differs from most schools in the district and state. Instead of having a specific book or two that all students entering specific courses must read, we provide some freedom of choice. This does not only benefit the hordes of parents who would rush to Barnes and Nobel to buy the same few books for their kids, but it benefits the students themselves— 24 title choices across genres from mystery to non-fiction appeal to more students than it turns away.

Summer reading is a staple of the American educational system. I’m sure that all of us, even adults, remember those elementary school book reports. The intention of summer reading is undeniably good natured. It is an attempt to maintain educational interest and engagement in a season that ongoing learning could all-too-easily be sidelined.

I believe that summer reading is a well-established tradition, and that doing away with it would mean LT would lose one of its best opportunities to help assist in their educational mission as well as help them pursue their “Vita Plena” over the summer, the quest for a fulfilling life.

Summer reading provides healthy substance to the Language Arts department and its curriculum. The diversity of choice (roughly 50 titles across three separate level lists) is masterful and is a testament to our Language Arts division and librarians, but there is a sense of disconnect between the assignment and what happens in classes. I understand that getting a teenager to pick up a book and read it with a smile on his face might not be the easiest thing to do when it’s sunny in the middle of July, but there is a sense among some students and in some English classes that summer reading is inconsequential.

Summer reading is a decades-old tradition that the L.A. department continues to be vigilant on improving and refining each year. There will always be a portion of the student body that disregards the assignment and may not even check out the list that LT staff spends days and weeks deliberating, but that does not mean that we should throw away a summer vacation assignment that has clout among parents and students alike. In the spirit of keeping students engaged with the literary and intellectual world around them, summer reading should remain.