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Lower School Reads 202,495 Cumulative Minutes During Reading Challenge!

by Kimberly Gendron, Social Media Coordinator
The Lower School completed a marathon this fall. This was not your typical marathon; this was a reading marathon that spanned 26.2 days - beginning October 6 and running through November 1 - and over the course of that time span, the Lower School read a total of 202,495 minutes, a truly amazing feat! 

The “READMarathon” is an initiative through former UGA and retired New England Patriots football player Malcolm Mitchell’s Share the Magic Foundation. Mitchell’s mission is to “transform the lives of children through literacy” and the READMarathon was designed as a challenge to “build reading stamina” by giving students the opportunity to “enrich their lives with the benefits of reading in a fun environment.” 

Lower School Librarian Tracy Breazeale has been working to set up an opportunity for the school to host Malcom to talk with students about reading and thought participating in his reading contest would be a great way to support his program. The Lower School decided to make the contest team focused and broke up by class to compete within each grade level, with Chick Fil A gift cards for the class with the most minutes in each grade. Breazeale says students embraced the reading contest with great enthusiasm and classes would run to the bulletin board to check the standings anytime they came to the library. 

In the end, the entire Lower School totaled over 202,000 minutes of reading. The classes with the most minutes per grade were Ms. Toler’s primer class (7,989 minutes), Mr. Delscamp’s 1st grade class (15,093 minutes), Ms. Sadler’s 2nd grade class (11,645 minutes), Ms. Morgan’s 3rd class (23,868), and Ms. Polesne’s 4th grade class (17,925 minutes).

Top readers in grades 2-4 were also rewarded with Chick Fil A gift cards. The top readers were Owen Liao ‘31, Ishana Bhullar ‘30 and Jack Woodward ‘29. When asked about what they enjoy about reading and their answers showed how reading takes on a different meaning for different students. Owen shared, “I enjoy when there’s something to be solved in the book I’m reading and then I get to think about it at night.” Ishana enjoys reading because it is “very interesting” and she “learns something new every time.” Jack also enjoys learning through reading and “imagining along with the stories.” During the contest, students read a variety of books for their minutes. Owen’s favorite was A Good Night for Ghosts, a Magic Tree House book which falls into his favorite genre of historical fiction. Ishana has yet to meet a genre she doesn’t like and her favorites include Matilda and The One and Only Ivan. Jack’s favorite genre is currently realistic fiction and he enjoyed several books from the 39 Clues series during the contest. 

While students often read on their own time, Lower School teachers also play a huge role in the classroom, finding creative ways to make reading engaging for students. Third Grade teacher Marianne Martin believes reading for young students is important because as they find books and series they enjoy, it helps them “fall in love with the ‘wonderful world of reading.’” Reading teaches students to explore and analyze critically which can “open doors for them and their future.” The entire 3rd grade read “The Wild Robot” and Ms. Martin’s class created a storyboard with the book’s characters and settings. Additionally, her students wrote letters to the author, Peter Brown, sharing their love for his book and how it has impacted their enthusiasm for reading. Helen writes: “I usually don’t read a lot but this book has taught me that reading just latkes you into another world. I can’t explain it but I think you would understand” and McCoy thanks Mr. Brown for “helping me fall in love with reading more books.” 

First grade teacher Mr. Delscamp, affectionately known as “Mr. D” around CCES, shares that his students absolutely love to read, and notes, “The vast resources at CCES have helped us to have an expansive classroom library with just the right books for each level of reading.” Ms. Breazeale, in her 14th year as the LS Librarian, says her overall goal is to turn “any student into a reader.” She is always looking for ways to engage all students and loves when she is able to help them find a topic they enjoy. Third Grade teacher, Martha Wrenn, summed up the overwhelming success of the READMarathon, sharing, “I saw many students begin to develop a renewed love for books through this competition.” 
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    • L to R: Owen Liao ‘31, Ishana Bhullar ‘30, and Jack Woodward ‘29

    • Mrs. Martin's 3rd Grade Class

Christ Church Episcopal School (“CCES”) admits students of any race, color, national and ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at CCES. CCES does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, national or ethnic origin, creed, religion, or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, financial aid, scholarship or other programs, or athletic or other school-administered programs and activities.