REWARDING READING

Plains Elementary School took on a different look for the "I Love To Read" program this year with no pies in a teacher's face or silly string covering a principal, but it did feature a basketball game between students and teachers.

In addition to the fun and games the school held Thursday, top readers for this year's program were announced. Mateo Hart was the top reader of the third grade with 66.7 points, followed by Coltyn Young with 52.3 points, Kameron Felstet with 49 points, Shelley Bourque with 44.1 points, and Ashlynn Weedeman with 43.5 points. For the fourth grade, the top reader was Connor Sherwood with 277.7 points, followed by Jace Russell with 164.7 points, Isaac Ericksen with 115.5 points, Gavin Brown with 109.6 points, and Lilliana Decker with 98.6.

The top five accelerated readers for fifth grade were Kalen Chenoweth at 121.4 points, Jude Meaden at 103.7 points, Palmer Revier at 71.6 points, Jace Wickum at 52.9 points, and Lacey Kulawinski at 48.5 points. In the sixth grade, Lydia Sherwood was number one with 235.5 points. Mia Equall had 163.2 points, followed by Wesley Loveall at 102.1 points, Mikaila Bourque at 75.9 points, and Alliyah Bourque with 69.8 points.

"Reading and English Language Arts is one of our primary focuses in the elementary since reading is the foundation for learning and gaining knowledge," said Kevin Meredith, the elementary school principal. "Our goal is for all of our students to be motivated readers, which results in great learning and thinking," he added.

The Love to Read began this year on Feb. 1. The kids earned points based on the number of books they read throughout the month. It is a national program designed to promote reading by children and is a primary path to knowledge and academic growth, according to Gena Ferlan, the primary coordinator of the annual program, which usually involves the local Masonic Lodge presenting the top reader in each grade with an electronic reader, but Ferlan said the school didn't reach out to the organization this year.

However, any student that accumulated five points, which was most of them, got their picture on the school wall. Those that collected 20 points received a new book. This year's theme was "Score Big & Read" and for the second consecutive year the kids had a carnival in the new gymnasium for students from kindergarten to fourth grade with 10 stations, such as balloon volleyball, football throw, bowling, whiffle ball, and a scooter relay race. They had a regular tic tac toe game and one that required the students to flip a plastic cup on a table. The cup had to land upright to place it on the tic tac toe board. The stations were manned by National Honor Society students and teachers Beth Meaden and Nicole Cockrell. Denise Earhart, a paraprofessional and one of the program coordinators, also helped.

This was Earhart's last year for the Love to Read program because she is retiring after 17 years at the school. "We're really going to miss her. She gives so many volunteer hours and never wants credit for it. And she's the mastermind behind all our big ideas," said Ferlan, who's been with the school for 16 years.

The event concluded with a basketball game between the elementary school teachers and students. The student team was comprised of the top readers from third to sixth grade. Meredith served as a referee, although his calls suspiciously favored the students. He even blocked a teacher's shot. Jack Revier also volunteered as a referee and made questionable calls in support of the students. Students Will Dawson and Brenden Allen were also referees. Student teacher Brandt Snead donned the Horsemen mascot costume for the game and students Peyton Vancleve and Lillian Decker helped with the scoreboard.

The basket for the teachers was set at 10 feet, but the students' basket was lowered to eight feet, six inches. In addition, teachers received two points per basket - even long ones - but the students got five points for each basket. Teacher Madisen O'Mara started things off for the teachers, but students responded with Kameron Felstet hitting his mark for the student scoreboard. By the end of the first five-minute quarter, the teachers led 20-11. However, with the help of the referees, the students pulled ahead and by the end of the first half, the students had a 25-16 lead.

In the third quarter, freshmen Ava Lawyer and Emelia Rivinius joined the teacher's squad, but to no avail, even with teacher Alec Cole hitting three-pointers that counted only for two points and kindergarten teacher Danielle Crowe scoring with three seconds on the three quarter clock, which ended with the students in the lead 35-26. The students spread the gap in the fourth and with one second in the game, student Clint Weedeman scored and they won 50-34.

"I think they liked playing the games better, but they enjoyed being the audience cheering on the teachers and friends. It was a loud and boisterous crowd," said Ferlan. It was the Elementary Student Council that came up with the idea of a game between teachers and students. "This is something new this year. Their idea turned out great. The staff and students had a wonderful time," said Meredith.

"We've all pitched in to make the month fun for students," said Ferlan. "The teachers all do fun things inside of the classroom and we provide the fun outside of the classroom," she said, adding that it's a whole school effort.