Mayfield students are trying to read 1 million pages by the end of the school year, so to reach this goal, the school is promoting the Superhero Reading Contest.
“I decided to do a superhero reading contest at Mayfield because I love superheroes, especially Batman, and reading is the cornerstone of everything,” Principal Jason Brown said. “Statistics show that students and adults are reading fewer and fewer books every year.”
The school wants to change this statistic and be part of a different stat.
“Statistics also show that students who read at least 30 minutes a day score higher on state testing than those who don't,” Mr. Brown said.
Students have a coloring log to complete that tracks the number of pages they have read. When each page is filled with colored books, that translates to 100 pages read, and this documentation is turned in to the office to keep track of the progress.
To stay on pace and meet the 1 million pages goal, students at Mayfield will need to read 250,000 pages each 9-week grading period.
As an added motivation, students earn prizes when they submit each log. In addition, there are campus milestones, including:
-For the first nine weeks and the initial 250,000 pages, there is a popsicle party with Batman.
-If students read 500,000 pages by the end of the first semester, there will be a campuswide water balloon fight, with Mr. Brown as the target.
-At 750,000 pages, a random drawing will determine which 10 students get to throw a pie in Mr. Brown’s face.
-And finally, at 1 million pages at the end of the school year, the reading celebration will feature bounce houses, water slides and a bubble truck.
This isn’t just outside reading, students can count the pages they read during “Drop Everything and Read” time.
“My students are pumped about reading,” Mr. Brown said. “The first 15 minutes of the school day is devoted to reading. I love walking the halls and seeing students and teachers engaged in their favorite books.”
Mr. Brown has already recognized students for their reading achievements, including two 4th-graders who were the first to hit 100 pages after the contest started, Yumi Sibal and Alain Mora Zuniga.
Yumi started the contest reading the first book in the series of Dork Diaries.
“I like that I can also learn something new when I read, so I like to read a lot,” she said. “I like science fiction and really girlie books.”
Which explains why she is now on the Cupcake Diary series of books.
“Books can help you think about new things,” said Alain, whose favorite genre is action books. “The first book I read in the contest was ‘The Wild Robot Escapes.’ When the books are really good, you want to read fast to know what happens next.”
Mr. Brown knows what he wants to happen next.
“I want to help foster a love for reading for my students and staff members that will hopefully last a lifetime,” he said. “And I am excited for my students to hit their goal of reading 1 million pages.”
