MAYOR RECOGNIZES STUDENTS AT STEELE SCHOOL FOR READING 80,000 BOOKS DURING SCHOOL YEAR
Harrisburg, PA – Mayor Stephen R. Reed today recognized classrooms and individual students at the Steele School for their participation in a special reading challenge organized by Principal Barbara Batts and endorsed by teachers and administrators throughout the school community.
This January, Principal Batts challenged the 320 children in the grades K-8 facility to read 75,000 books before the end of the current school year. Principal Batts then pledged that she would ride a mechanical bull in front of the student body if the students met the challenge. Students and teachers then opened an in-school bookstore to support the effort with the store’s proceeds going towards the purchase of additional books for classroom use.
Reed said that the students at the Steele School met the challenge by reading over 80,000 books, or an average of over 250 books per student. ‘Individual Reader’ awards went to second grader Ashley Cintron for reading 1,042 books and to third grader Myisha Bellamy for reading 620 books.
The Mayor said the top ‘Classroom Reader’ awards went to Ms. Stephanie Bradshaw’s K-2 class for reading a total of 2,750 books, or an average of 392 per student, and Ms. Elizabeth Stuckey’s third grade class for reading 5,540 books, or an average of 277 books per student.
"This accomplishment shows that Harrisburg School District students accomplish anything they put their minds to doing," said Reed. "It also shows that an innovative spirit, combined with a dose of good humor, can inspire children to find the fun in academics. Principal Barb Batts led the way in demonstrating that learning can bring unexpected rewards – sometimes even humorous ones – and taught the students that reading can transport us to a higher level in our lives."
The day’s celebration included a rodeo-themed lunch prepared by Harrisburg School District Food Services, a clown dressed in rodeo theme (played by a school custodian), colorful bandannas for all children, craft projects such as making your own bookmark, and photographs of the students posed behind a cardboard image of a rodeo bull-rider with the rider’s face cut out, so that every student has proof that he or she accomplished something that might have "thrown" anyone less determined.
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