East Side Elementary scores $10,000 in books

Reading at home is serious business for the students at East Side Elementary.

Last year, the school won the countywide Millionaire Readers contest sponsored by Read 20 for the most pages read at home over the year. As a result, the school was awarded $10,000 in books that has helped build up teachers' libraries and gotten the kids excited about reading.

And this year they're ready to do it again.

Just like last year, teachers are sending home a reading log with their students each week that parents must sign off on to show their child is reading at home. Each week, the class with the highest percent of readers gets a prize and, more importantly, the distinction of being a winner.

"They're excited about it and they want to show me their reading logs," said third-grade teacher Leanne Chesney, whose class has won twice this year so far. "I even hear them pressuring each other to read at home, because they want to win."

One of the biggest challenges she said she faces is kids who don't have many books at home.

"A big struggle for us is that kids just don't have them at home, so I encourage them to go to the public library or McKay's for used books," she said.

Even though many of the school's students may not have books in the home or come from low-income backgrounds, Literacy Coach Cathy Patronis said the school is working hard to continue promoting reading and the importance of literacy in general.

"We want them to extend that knowledge at home and have a love of books," she said. "We want them to practice the strategies we teach them each day, because then it becomes automatic."

The books that were bought as a result of last year's win were strategically selected to go along with the newly implemented Common Core standards and include everything from poetry and nonfiction to biographies.

"We have to thank Read 20," Patronis said. "Without them we wouldn't have received the extra money for kids' books, but they also provide our kids with books throughout the year."

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