
The
A-Street
Bruins,
a
special
group
of
students
at
Forest
Park
High
School,
recently
needed
a
reservation
to
enter
their
fourth-period
classroom.
That's
because
their
teacher,
Ashley
Tayon,
transformed
their
classroom
into
a
café,
complete
with
tables
decked
out
with
restaurant
tablecloths,
flowers
for
ambience,
and
paper
place
settings.
It
was
all
part
of
Tayon's
sixth
annual
book-tasting
event
designed
to
help
her
students
learn
about
book
genres
and
discover
which
ones
they
loved
the
most.
"Any
time
I
can
dress
in
a
costume
or
transform
my
classroom
into
a
different
atmosphere,
it
just
elevates
the
learning
process,"
said
Tayon.
Tasting
refers
to
students
reading
small
portions
of
a
book
to
determine
whether
the
genre
appeals
to
their
reading
interests.
As
students
finished
sampling
their
book,
Tayon
walked
around
the
classroom
dressed
as
a
chef
holding
a
platter
of
books
ready
to
offer
students
their
next
book-tasting.
"It
goes
to
the
saying
of
not
judging
a
book
by
its
cover.
A
student
might
not
read
a
book
because
of
its
cover,
so
it
allows
them
to
open
it
up,
read
a
page,
and
see
if
it's
an
interest
of
theirs
or
not,"
Tayon
explained.
"As
Dr.
Seuss
says,
'The
more
you
read,
the
more
you
know
and
the
more
places
that
you'll
go,'
and
that
is
exactly
what
I'm
trying
to
do
here
throughout
this
book-tasting."