Single Summer Reading Title Assigned to All CHS Students

In conjunction with the commitment of the Coventry Public School System, all Coventry High School students will read one required book during the summer break. If possible, purchasing the book is preferable, as many teachers ask students to utilize texts in class once the school year begins. Local libraries, however, also have lending copies of required texts.

This year, unlike in years past, all students will read the same text. CHS students in grades 9-12 as well as teachers, staff and community members will be “on the same page” with our reading of The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch this summer. The hope of administrators is that thoughtful and productive discussions will be had in September about the reading. 

Students received a notice announcing the required reading selection and describing the summer reading program expectations in their English classes in early June. It can also be found attached to this article or by clicking here to visit the CHS website.

Students’ knowledge of the required book will be assessed during the first weeks of school.

Also provided this year is a series of titles recommended by faculty from various content areas throughout CHS. Students especially interested in science, for example, might want to check out the texts recommended by science teachers. 

A synopsis of the required text is provided below:

The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch

 “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand."

—Randy Pausch

Many professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to reflect on what matters most to them. While they speak, audiences often can't help but ask the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because "time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think"). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration, and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon. This is a book that will be shared for generations to come.