Five Jefferson County Public Schools are claiming top dog status after winning their respective categories in Jefferson County Public Library’s (JCPL) Summer Reading School Contest.
The winning schools are:
Preschool: Warder Preschool
Elementary: Pleasant View Elementary
Middle: Oberon Middle School
High: Jefferson High
Charter/Option: Addenbrooke Classical Academy
In an effort to engage public school students and motivate them to track and log their summer reading time, JCPL added a public school contest component to this year's program. Winning schools will receive their $300 Visa cards and a trophy at a school assembly in September and the prizes must be used to supplement any literacy-based project or program at the school.
Eligible readers, preschool through grade 12 students, were able to have their minutes count towards their school’s efforts at winning. 50% of all the registered participants (17,448) were preschool through grade 12 Jeffco Public School students who affiliated with a school. More than 9,500 (55%) finished the program by reading and logging a minimum of 8 hours. In total, these students read 14,442,452 minutes representing 52.3% of minutes read county-wide.
Oberon Middle School's principal, Tara Pena, was excited to learn Oberon won the Middle School Category and said, "Each summer we strongly encourage our students to read, and read often! We appreciate the support we receive from the Jeffco Public Library to reward students for their time and effort reading during their summer break! The extra time spent reading over the summer makes for a smoother transition once school starts, especially for our new incoming 7th graders. Thanks Jeffco Public Library!”
Warder Preschool Director Brenda Huynh said, "I am so proud of our families, starting children at such a young age with a passion for reading!"
Jefferson High's principal, Michael James, said he is proud of his students who committed so many hours of their summer vacation to read. "Choice reading gives our students a chance to truly increase their comprehension while staying engaged in literacy. Go Saints!" he said.
Pleasant View Elementary won the Elementary School Category and their principal, Janace Fischer, said, "I am so proud of the time our students dedicated to reading this summer! It’s an honor to receive this reward and I can’t wait to share our excitement with our students.” Julie Spencer, Elementary Principal for Addenbrooke Classical Academy, said the school is excited for their students and can’t wait to celebrate with them.
The Jefferson County Public Library’s Board of Trustees generously donated five, $300 prizes to be awarded to the top school in each category that had the most finishers (people who read a minimum of eight hours) compared to school enrollment. All the school standings are available on jeffcolibrary.org.
In all, Jefferson County residents set a new summer reading record by logging 27,564728 minutes between June 1 and July 31.
