Post-its dangle out the sides of the reading books in Tina Burnett's fifth grade class.

Scribbled on them in children's handwriting are observations, recollections and questions her students developed while of reading.

When asked what they thought of the Post-it note activity, a group of four students in her class responded with shrugs. They enjoy reading -- the mystery series "Goosebumps," sports stories and spy capers top their lists -- but the books used in class are not challenging enough for them, even with the added exercise.

But with approval from the Baldwin-Whitehall School Board of a new program on Wednesday, the reading curriculum at all three elementary schools in the district turned a corner. Starting next year, teachers for kindergarten through fifth grade will use "StoryTown," a reading program developed by Harcourt School Publishers.

Randal Lutz, assistant superintendent of elementary education, said Baldwin-Whitehall will purchase the program for $305,000.

StoryTown provides plenty of resources: initial student assessments, weekly lesson tests, writer's companion handbooks, comprehension guides, short stories based on one theme but written for different reading abilities. The program's sample set for Baldwin-Whitehall fills half a classroom.

Most of Burnett's current lesson plans utilize supplemental materials like novels and poems to make up for what the reading program lacks. She has worked on finding a balance between the reading program and supplemental, more challenging books for the past fives years. Burnett said the reading curriculum is still a work in progress.

"Everything we use in class, teachers are creating," Burnett said.

Her efforts are not unique. Burnett's coworkers at Whitehall Elementary have made due for the past few years. Throughout Baldwin-Whitehall, elementary teachers have coped with deficiencies in the reading curriculum, Paynter Elementary Vice President Patricia Fusco said.

The difficulty, teachers and administrators agreed, changes from making up for program deficits to learning the curriculum and how to incorporate all the resources available.

"You can put any curriculum in here and if it's not implemented, truthfully..." Burnett said, trailing off as she shook her head gravely.

She said elementary teachers ran into problems two years ago when a new math curriculum was introduced in the classrooms before the faculty had learned it.

Baldwin-Whitehall has proactively tried to prepare elementary teachers for the new reading curriculum. Administrators held two, two-hour sessions earlier this year to teach new reading strategy methods, like the Post-It activity, that will make adoption of the StoryTown program easier. The district will bring in Harcourt representatives to thoroughly introduce the program during in-service days in April and May.

StoryTown's attractive qualities go beyond the volume of resources available, however. At the March 5 school board agenda meeting, Fusco, Paynter Principal Darlene DeFilippo and Whitehall Principal Andrea Dorfzaun presented the highlights of StoryTown: challenging vocabulary, diverse genres and materials suitable for both advanced and below-average readers.

Baldwin-Whitehall's new reading program also places heavy emphasis on writing. Currently, the district uses a supplemental program called ADAPT for writing education.

Some school board members wanted to find a reading program that extends to middle school curriculums. But Superintendent Lawrence Korchnak and Assistant Superintendent Lutz were quick to assure skeptical board members that the elementary reading program deficiencies were too drastic to ignore.

"The point is you don't want to not start because you don't have the next piece in place," said board President Kevin Fischer.