It's almost summer! Maybe you have already started to dream about all the adventures you will be going on this summer, or maybe you are still waiting on the travel restrictions to be lifted. We know how to fix that: click on the image!

Our incredibly popular Build-A-Button contest is back starting on May 1st! We invite students to reflect on their year and design a year-end button for BASA. As always, the winning designs will be made into buttons for distribution within our community. BUT... this year, we're taking things one step further. Click on the image for more details!

Inspired by the epistolary novels from the March You’ve Got Mail Reading Challenge? With the advent of electronic mail, the emergence of emojis as language and development of snapchat as a messaging device, the traditional letter seems to have lost some luster but fear not, we are highlighting the value of the missive in our next writing contest - the Letter Writing Contest! Detail a dispatch to a friend or family member, craft a correspondence to a favorite author or perhaps even manage the message in a cover letter to a prospective school or employer!

Follow in the footsteps of Leonardo DaVinci, Grace Bedell or Martin Luther King Jr. Write a letter and maybe even change the world! Click on the image to submit your letter before April 30,2021.

Dear student,

Did you know that a book composed of journal entries, letters, and even emails and text messages is called an Epistolary Novel? Many authors utilize this unique and engaging form of writing to engage their readers on a whole new level - and it’s the theme of our newest reading challenge coming in March. Click the image to find out more!

Sincerely,

BASA

Got the winter blues? Wondering when spring will arrive? An unlikely source may have the answer! Groundhog Day is on February 2nd and is a longstanding tradition observed in North America. If the groundhog emerges from its den and sees his shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, spring is on its way! Click on the image for more details!

BASA is celebrating January with palindrome poems! Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, has two faces: one that looks forward, and one that looks backwards. Palindrome poems do the same: they can be read forwards and backwards to reveal new meanings, delight, and surprise your reader. Don’t worry, in order to create your own palindrome we’re providing lots of examples and guides to get you started.