By Richard Kaufman
Sentinel Reporter
When Barbara Riccio, the principal of New Lebanon School, kicked off the school’s first read-a-thon back on April 3, she announced that the reading goal would be 10,000 minutes for the month.
It’s safe to say a lot of pages were turned in five short weeks.
All 265 students from the school participated and read over 100,000 minutes while raising $4,200, which will go toward field trips, school assemblies, and visits by local authors and artists. The school now hopes a local business or individual will be able to match that amount in order to beef up fundraising.
At the kick-off assembly on April 3, students were given a special read-a-thon packet including a tally sheet to record their reading minutes, a contract for their parents to sign that stated how many minutes they’d reach day, and a sponsor form to collect donations from friends and family.
At the conclusion of the assembly, all teachers and students read quietly in the auditorium for 10 minutes.
“Our teachers and school administration were incredibly supportive and thrilled with the results,” said Dana Rodriguez, a PTA co-president.
Students were responsible for setting their own reading goals, and could use books, magazines, newspapers and an online guided-reading program called Raz Kids. Top readers and fundraisers received prizes, such as free books, Amazon, Toys R Us and Subway gift cards, craft supplies and a scooter.
The read-a-thon was the brainchild of Rodriguez, who first approached Riccio at the beginning of the school year about the idea.
“We talked about a read-a-thon and how that would support the curriculum and the teachers. The one thing that kept coming out of it was the reading stamina—to build it,” Rodriguez said. “Not only did we raise money, but the kids read more. It just couldn’t have been a better thing for us and our school.”
Rodriguez, who has a fourth grader and a kindergartener, said she couldn’t believe how much her youngest child read as a result of taking part in the read-a-thin.
“My little guy, he read 72 minutes in one day,” she said. “I was dumbfounded. I’m really excited about it.”
Students were able to engage in the joys of reading while raising money that’s going to be put right back into the school to enrich their educational experiences. New Lebanon’s first read-a-thon was a major success.
“This was a win-win situation for New Lebanon School,” Rodriguez said.
