I Love to Read Month

By Mary Alice Garrett

This story originally appeared March 8, 2012 in The News Journal of Wilmington, Delaware.

Merv Daugherty, superintendent of the Red Clay Consolidated School District, found a way to get kids to turn off their electronics and read: He promised to read bedtime stories from the roof of the school whose students read the most pages.

And he kept his promise last month -- despite rain -- to celebrate the district's "I Love to Read Month" reading incentive.

All Red Clay elementary and middle schools pupils counted the number of pages they read. The top three schools logged a total of 1,800,000 pages read by 1,943 children.

Richey Elementary with 403 students captured first place. North Star Elementary, with an enrollment of 740, was second. Third was Skyline Middle School with 800 students.

"We are looking for ways to get children away from the television or the video games," said Daugherty. "We want them to shut off the electronic devices and read."

Red Clay's program is just one of many run every year by Delaware schools and libraries. Some involve the promise of a prize such as a teacher shaving his head or dying her hair. Some involve student prizes, such as free food, tickets to sporting events or amusement parks.

But they all have the same goal: To encourage kids to read and grow their comprehension ability.

"Research says that motivation is key to student achievement," says Christine Evans, co-director of the Delaware Reading and Writing Project, which helps area teachers develop literacy.

"If the kids are motivated and they are interested in books and they are interested in reading, then you really don't have to worry about their test scores, because they will do very well," Evans says.

Schools and libraries focus on reading with all kinds of programs, including the accelerated reader program in school that gives kids points for books they read and read-aloud programs that bring parents and celebrities such as the governor into school to read aloud. The incentive programs also usually allow kids to pick their own reading material.

"Letting them choose their reading material is another way to get them motivated and get them to practice their reading," Evans says.

State librarian Annie Norman says programs have to be careful in choosing the rewards, so that the emphasis remains on reading and not prizes.

"Something like seeing their superintendent doing something crazy is a fun way of getting them engaged and getting them to read," she says.

The state's Summer Library Reading Program tries to emphasize kids finding the genre or author that engages and leads to a reading addiction, she says.

Dottie Johnson, Richey's principal, was especially pleased her students read 823,777 pages -- an average of 911 pages per child.

"Not bad for a little Title One school," she said. (Title One is the designation for a low-income family school.)

Daugherty began the celebration with a morning pep rally on the Richey playground.

"You guys did a great job -- the best in the district," he said from the school roof. "Let's give everyone a big cheer. How many of you are coming tonight?"

After applauding themselves, a large number of students raised their hands.

Kim Montoya and Kurt Gretz, both 11, were the top fifth-grade readers. Kim reads mostly mystery and adventure books. Kurt prefers sports books.

"I read 1,300 pages," said Thomas Davis, 10. He likes graphic novels which he described as "kind of like a comic book."

Even "reluctant readers" were motivated to read to boost their school's count in the contest.

"I read so many books. I don't remember the number," said Kaylyn Baez, 12.

At Skyline, Daugherty spoke to the students over the school intercom.

"Sorry we can't be on the roof," he said. "We appreciate what you are doing not only reading but for all that you do to make Skyline one of the best schools in the state."

Daugherty gave Skyline students ice cream treats.

The North Star students and some teachers wore pajamas for the occasion.

Natalie Fusco, 7, wore pink print pajamas with a matching fleece blanket. Clare Chi, also 7, sported leather cowboy boots and pajamas. "I read 390 pages," she said proudly.

Daugherty braved the raindrops from the North Star roof as an animated crowd greeted him on the parking lot with much waving and cheering.

"I want to thank you for reading all those pages, he said.

He told the youngsters, they would get ice cream later.

Daugherty concluded the day with a night visit to Richey. This time, he climbed the ladder of a Minquas Fire Co. fire truck to the roof.

Daugherty read stories that were streamed on the school district's website. Several students joined him on the roof and read aloud also.

Afterward, children and parents were treated to hot chocolate and cookies.