Reading can open a world of joy for students, and one North Carolina principal wants to spread that moment of bap pines s to them on their birthday.

Glenn Cook, principal of Pleasant Ridge Elementary School in Gastonia, North Carolina, came up with an idea to give each student a book on their birthday. With about 900 students attending Pleasant Ridge, it is not an easy task, but Cook says he's ready to "go big or go home". He is going to include every student in this project.

''I didn't have a lot of kids' books," said Cook."So I put the idea online, and I wanted to see if any of my trends needed to clean off their books b elves at home. I was hoping to get maybe 50 books for the first round of birthdays. "· The number of books Cook received was surprising." Were probably getting maybe 500 books," said Cook. There are so many books taking up spa cc all over his office.

The idea started when Cook attended a professional development event. He asked another principal for advice. This principal told him that at her school, she gave her students a pencil on their birthday.

He wanted to take this idea to the next level, so he began reading himself. He came up with the idea that a principal should share his excitement and love for reading. The goal of giving these books to students is to find a book that's right for each one, so they can experience the happiness of reading.

Local businesses have joined the project to donate books. Michelle Clear, a parent at Pleasant Ridge, decided to support Cook's project and offer her store as a book donation center."Reading just opens up so many ways in kids' lives," Clear noted. Hopefully, this will get across the nation to call on more people to donate books.

Every year we have a volunteer day. On that day we can leave the office and choose to volunteer an organization. Last year, my team chose to volunteer as a group at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH) in the cancer ward(癌症病房). The RCH asked us to make Christmas cards with the kids, and generally just stay with them, whether waiting between doctor's visits or staying in their room.

With our day at the RCH coming near, many of us in the team were feeling quite nervous about what we would do when seeing the sick children. I tried to deal with the stress by baking(烘焙) the night before when we were asked to provide morning tea. Later I was feeling more confident.

We arrived at the RCH and our first job was to serve morning tea to the children and their families who were waiting to see doctors. It seemed that the biscuit or chocolate broke the icy situation! Then it was time to start making Christmas cards. We came with shiny and fun things that can get even those big kids excited.

It was surprising that our stress immediately went away. By sitting and talking with the kids, and helping them make cards, it became clear that though they were sick, they were open and glad.

To say that I didn't feel upset that day would not be honest. However, we were able to put smiles on faces. Many thanks to the nurses, doctors, parents and children at the RCH for welcoming us, and allowing us to experience the joy that kids bring.

Have you ever seen lions dancing in the streets? The lions dance to the beat of a drum (鼓). Of course, they are not real lions. They are dancers in lion costumes (服饰). Lion dancing first started in China centuries ago. It is meant to bring good luck in the coming year. 

Usually, a lion is made up of two dancers. One dancer controls the head. The other controls the tail. 

"I think of it as a sport," says Anthony Huang, aged 16. He is a member of the New York Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club. Anthony performs (表演) as the lion's head. It can weigh 20 pounds. Lion dancing is important to Anthony. "This tradition really lifts me up," he says. 

In the past, lion dancing was performed mostly by men. But it is different today. LionDanceMe is a lion dancing group in San Francisco, California. There are boys and girls on its team. They dance together. "Anyone can take up lion dancing. You have to believe that you can do it," says Ananda Tang-Lee, a 17-year-old girl. 

Lion dancing will continue to evolve. But a team's sense of community will never change. "We call it a family," Ananda says, "It's really great, because we always have each other's backs. "

It was Friday afternoon. After getting off the school bus, Laura ran into the house .

"How was school, Laura?" asked  mom.

"It was great, Mom. Labor Day(劳动节) is coming. I am excited that I  no school next Monday!"

Laura was woken up early on Labor Day morning by her dad. He said that in honor of(纪念) Labor Day, the family planned  some cleaning. Laura couldn't believe it. She began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.

"Laura, your breakfast is ready. We have many  to do today. Let's get a move on," said Laura's mom. Laura asked her parents, "Are you serious about working today? Isn't Labor Day a holiday?"

"Yes, Laura, it is," replied her dad. "But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you realize why Labor Day  in the beginning."

Laura disliked the plan, but she had no choice. First, she was asked to wash the breakfast dishes. After that, her dad  her to give their dog a bath. It was a hard task, which needed a lot of careful work. She began the work unhappily.

But things began to change as she was doing the chores. She found it was so  with so many soap bubble(泡泡) when she brushed the dog. Then it was yard work and she helped to pick up sticks. When she finished her chores, Laura felt happy to see the yard looked much  than before.

Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something  can also get special pleasure. Maybe this is the spirit of Labor Day.