The hallways of Pima Elementary School were jammed with Panther families on a recent evening as the school celebrated its annual Title I Reading Night.

This year’s theme, according to a press release from Scottsdale Unified School District, was “Reading Through the Eras.” Students traveled from classroom to classroom, collecting clues from different decades and eras, from the ‘60s, ‘70s and ‘80s to Star Wars, Care Bears and Where’s Waldo?

“Our Title I Specialist, Christina Smith, comes up with a different theme every year,” Pima Principal Christopher Hodo said in the release. “It’s a lot of fun. The kids love it, and the families love it.”

“It’s for parents to read with their kids, play with their kids, have fun with their kids and make connections,” said Smith, a 25-year Pima veteran. “Parents get to see what’s going on in our classrooms, so it’s just a big community event.”

Going from classroom to classroom, students undertook scavenger hunts, learning decade-based facts for a chance to win decade-based prizes, such as instant ramen which, they learned along the way, was introduced in the U.S. by an Asian businessman in the 1970s.

Pima also hosted a Scholastic Book Fair during Reading Night, according to the release, the proceeds from which will help purchase the free books each student will receive at next year’s celebration of reading. Last year’s book fair bought this year’s giveaway books.

Fifth grade teacher Emily Perleberg said she has fond memories of Reading Night from her days as a Pima Panther. Being on the other side of it now, as a teacher, she said she appreciates the collaborative efforts that go into the event.

“It’s practically like the Olympics,” Perleberg said in the release. “We see one teacher’s super-cute door, so we’re like, ‘Okay, we gotta do it!’ Everyone really gets into it.”

Perleberg said the event provides the opportunity for parents to get to know their students’ teachers better, gain an understanding of what they’re learning and build on Pima’s sense of belonging and community. She added, however, that her students’ involvement in the planning of Reading Night is the best part.

“Literally, I had every one of my students talking all week about tonight,” she said in the release. “They’re involved in creating the activities for the classroom, so they’re proud of that and want to show that off.”

For their part, parents enjoyed roaming the hallways as students dashed in and out of the different ‘eras,’ collecting scavenger hunt factoids.

Sam Pewitt has a kindergartener and second grader at Pima.

“We get to meet some of the other teachers and see parts of the campus you don’t normally walk through, watch the kids have fun, see what they’ve learned, see their work,” Pewitt said in the release. “I’m always surprised with the things they’ve done.”

Pima is celebrating its 65th anniversary this school year. Principal Hodo said they were pleased with this year’s edition of Reading Night.

“It encourages kids to read but it also encourages families to come out and spend time with their kids and see some of the fun things we do here,” Hodo concluded. “This is what makes Pima special.”