THREE RIVERS AREA — Seeing the school principal ride a camel, parasail or hang on for dear life on a mechanical bull seems to motivate students at Riverview Judsonia Elementary School to read all year.
Kickoff for the Raiders Read Accelerated Reading program began with a short football scrimmage Monday afternoon. Kindergarten through sixth-grade students filled the stands at Riverview High School football stadium, and the Raider football players read to the students after the scrimmage.
Students will keep up with their reading progress until May, andtheir class accomplishments will be posted on a lunchroom wall, which is decorated like a football field. Kindergarten through first grade has a goal of 1,000 books, and second through sixth grades will accumulate Accelerated Reader points for the books they collectively read.
This year, the theme is "Plunge the Principal." At the end of the reading program, if the students reach their goals, a field day is planned that consists of mini sporting events, for which the students will receive rewards and ribbons. Riverview Judsonia Elementary Principal Lance Perry will sit in a dunking booth until each student has a chance to dunk him.
Sporting a purple wig and shiny purple eyelashes, Suzanne Bennett, elementary librarian at Riverview Judsonia, said, "We like to torture our principal," as she was having her face painted with the school colors.
After the readings, students were allowed to run to the goal posts to choose a book to keep.
"We strongly support literacy," Perry said. "We feel that reading is important for young children because a strong foundation inreading early in childhood sets students up for success as they get older."
Cheerleaders on the sidelines helped motivate the students. After the scrimmage, the students divided into classes, and the Raider players shared their favorite books by reading to the students.
The Raider football players aren't the only ones who enjoy reading.
"I like everything about it," fifth-grade student Mollie Mor
gan said about reading. "It is re
ally fun." Micah Roach, third-grader,
not only enjoys reading, but she
is proud of her brother, who is a
football player, for sharing his love
of reading with her friends.
"It's great to read," Micah said.
"The best thing about today is my
big brother gets to read to us." Riverview Judsonia teachers
encourage the community to get
involved in promoting literacy by
"exercising your eye muscles."
"Reading is something that everyone uses daily in their lives no matter what their age or occupation may be," Perry said.
Trophies will be awarded to the student from each class who earns the most Accelerated Reading points for the school year.
"It helps everybody read more," third-grader Kaitlin Shireman said about the Raiders Read program.
- jbrosius@ arkansasonline.com
Three Rivers, Pages 55, 56 on 09/24/2009