Over 200 Corbin High students bring books to life at 18th Annual Storybook Christmas

Over 200 Corbin High School students did their best to entertain and instill a love for reading in the hearts of 1,200 of their younger counterparts during the 18th Annual Storybook Christmas, held Tuesday at the Corbin Center for Technology and Community Activities.

The event, which has become a unique Corbin tradition and a right of passage for many high school students, is sponsored by the Corbin High School National Honors Society chapter and is comprised of 22 "book talks" or scenes from famous, and sometimes oddball stories, acted out by student volunteers.

"It’s a massive production," said Jill Lewis, a Journalism and U.S. History instructor at Corbin High School, who has served as the faculty advisor for the event for the last dozen years. She been involved in Storybook Christmas for 16 of the 18 years it has existed.

"All of this is a volunteer effort … Every year it is so much fun and as long as the kids are having fun with it, both high school and the little ones, then I’m going to keep doing it."

The main impetus behind Storybook Christmas is to encourage reading among area youth. Children that attend donate books as the price of admission. The books are then re-gifted to others children in the community.

The book talks are all based on stories appropriate for fourth-grade readers or younger. None of them can be based on books that have been made into major motion pictures.

"We want to introduce children to books, not just movies," Lewis said. "We want to encourage them to go out there and read on their own."

While traditional favorites like "Casey at the Bat" and "Little Red Hen" are commonly among the book talks, other less well-known stories are featured as well. This year year’s lot of stories even includes one focusing on the stress Santa Claus endures trying to fulfill everyone’s Christmas wishes.

"The students can get very creative," Lewis said. "Most of those who are taking part in Storybook Christmas came through it as elementary school students and they say they look forward to the day when they get to be the big kids and tell their stories."

Planning for Storybook Christmas begins in mid-October.

The Corbin High School Student Council and Future Business Leaders of America club pitched in to the help with the event.