Aliens visit Paul Banks Elementary to celebrate Read-a-Thon

The students read a combined total of 222,252 minutes and raised over $8,000 for the school.

Paul Banks Elementary School students were in a flurry of excitement on Friday, Feb. 28. They spent the last month competing in an intergalactic Read-a-Thon, where every minute they logged reading helped support their newly contacted “alien friends” build a spaceship to visit their school here on Earth. As students and teachers filed into the gymnasium, many were adorned with googly-eyed alien glasses and bouncing, bright green antennas.

Principal Sean Campbell began the assembly by sharing a letter from “Commander Mike,” one of the aliens who wanted to come visit.

“Commander Mike can’t be here but he wrote you a letter, like any great intergalactic mailman would,” Campbell said. “Dear Paul Banks students, I apologize that I can’t be there with you today, but I had an emergency delivery to Neptune. You wouldn’t believe how difficult space travel is these days, and I had to leave light years in advance to arrive on time. Mr. Campbell and all of your teachers have kept me updated on your reading progress, though, and I’m so impressed. The aliens needed you to read 150,000 minutes in order to get the plans to build their spaceship. Do you know how many minutes you guys read? 222,252! Another way to look at it is that you have a combined total of 154 straight days!”

Momentarily, two aliens burst onto the scene, bearing books and pom poms. Each classroom was given a stack of books (translated from their alien language to English, of course) wrapped in shiny, silver paper.

In addition to helping their new friends come visit, students documented their minutes reading to be entered for prize drawings and managed to raise over $8,000 for the school through individual sponsorships.

Reach reporter Chloe Pleznac at chloe.pleznac@homernews.com.

Teacher Jennifer Reinhart attempts communication with the alien visitors at Paul Banks Elementary School on Friday, Feb. 28, 2025. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

A poster showcasing student art hangs in the hallway of Paul Banks Elementary School on Feb. 28, 2025. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

A poster hangs in Paul Banks Elementary School on Feb. 28, 2025. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)

The spaceship students helped build with their cumulative reading minutes during their Read-a-Thon hangs on display at Paul Banks Elementary School on Feb. 28, 2025. (Chloe Pleznac/Homer News)