NILES — On Thursday, Jan. 23, students, parents and guardians of Howard-Ellis Elementary School learned tips to work on reading skills outside of the classroom.

The Niles school hosted its first annual Lifting Literacy to New Levels event, an alpine-themed series of learning sessions at its 2788 Mannix St. location. After attendees met at the school’s café at 5:45 p.m., they chose three of five 20-minute sessions, each hosted by teachers.

The sessions included “Comprehension Cliffs,” “Fluency Flurries,” “Phonics Peaks,” “Read Aloud Avalanche” and “Teaching Tundra.” Each offered a specific activity attendees took part in while teachers offered insights into building reading skills.

“Our ultimate goal is for our kids to want to read, to be lifelong readers,” said Howard-Ellis principal Michelle Asmus.

To help spark that reading, each attendee of the “Read Aloud Avalanche” session received a free book.