Eastside Elementary Students Read Their Way To #1 In The State

Eastside Elementary has reason to celebrate! This summer, students read 217,457 minutes, earning them the title as the number one school in Arkansas in the 2015 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge.

The school will be listed in the 2016 Scholastic Book of World Records and will receive a special personalized plaque to commemorate the students' summer reading achievements. 

"We are so excited and so proud of our students and families! Mrs. Sowell, our Media Specialist, and our classroom teachers work hard every day to get our kids excited about reading," states Eastside Principal Stacy Allen.  

Eastside kicked off its summer reading with a fun family night where everyone was encouraged to read throughout summer. Students were given copies of "Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies. 

Mrs. Sowell and Mrs. Allen sent emails this summer to parents to remind them the importance of reading with students. When students returned in August to our back to school Open House, they were given books to read before school started. Parents and students were excited to get the new books to begin their school year. These books were provided to students from our Scholastic Book Fair. 

"Mrs. Sowell, with the help of our classroom teachers, says Principal Allen, strive to make the media center the heart of the school because a love of reading is one of the best gifts we can provide for our students. We are so proud of our Eastside students!"

This summer, children from across all 50 states and 28 countries read 286,611,349 million minutes in Scholastic's 9th annual summer reading program. Out of 6,229 schools, Eastside Elementary School ranked 214.

This free, global summer reading program, created by Scholastic and powered by Energizer®, encourages children worldwide to “Power Up & Read” and to log the minutes they spend reading in order to unlock 12 original stories written by favorite children's authors and earn digital rewards for reading milestones.  The program aims to avoid the effects of the “summer slide” – the learning losses which can occur when school is not in session.

For more information about Scholastic (NASDAQ: SCHL) and the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, please visit mediaroom.scholastic.com/SummerReadingChallenge. 

Way to go Eastside Elementary School!