The Read-a-thon is continuing on...

With the every changing and evolving situation with the COVID-19 virus, I just wanted to reach out to say that the Read-a-thon committee decided  to keep the Read-a-thon going, to keep students tallying minutes on paper logs, and we will have one big tallying party (and pledge collection) when everyone is back.  

So, let’s keep the Read-a-thon rolling with paper logs.  We will set a date (or two days to give flexibility) for logs and pledges to be turned in once we have a better idea of when students are returning. We will hold off on doing the classroom percentages, top readers, etc until everyone is back. The Author's Visit with Ted Scheu, which was scheduled for this Thursday, March 19th, will be scheduled for a later date TBA and the Community Campfire Potluck has been cancelled for this year.

Please don't hesitate to reach out and email me (alester@smcvt.edu) if you have any questions.  Let's keep reading s'more!

Many thanks,

Anna Lester and the Read-a-thon Committee

Thursday, March 19th—Author Visit: Ted Scheu.  Scheu is a nationally-known children’s writer from Middlebury, VT. Ted Scheu’s own poems, published in over two dozen anthologies and poetry collections in the US and UK, are borne of his childhood memories, as well as from his experience as an elementary teacher and parent. “I try to capture in my poems the silliness and sadness, the worries and the wonders of being a kid–whether it’s school life, or the surprising things that happen at home and with friends,” said Scheu recently. “My goal in my own writing, and especially in my teaching, is to help kids find their own voices. Poetry is the best way I’ve found to get kids revved up about their writing.  Its simple format and easy emotional connections seem to open hearts and get pencils dancing.”

Scheu, (pronounced “shy”), 60, travels all over the world as a visiting author.  His published works include his own collections—“Getting the Best of Me,” “I Tickled My Teachers,” “I Froze My Mother and Other Seriously Funny Family Poems,” “Now I Know My ZBCs,” and “I Threw My Brother Out,” (all from Young Poets’ Press, VT), as well as many popular US anthologies including, ”I Invited a Dragon to Dinner” by Philomel, NY (2002), and several anthologies from Meadowbrook Press, MN. 

Information about Scheu’s work may also be found at his web site at www.poetryguy.com

Week 1 Results are In!

Week 1 Results are In!

What a fantastic first “week” (March 1-8) of reading. Students, teachers, and staff already read 34,842 minutes! It was very exciting to see the reading logs come in and all the wonderful minutes read by the students. A special thanks to Jessica Abbott, Betsy Brown, Cathy Cashman, and Adrienne Raphael for helping with the tallying and Sarah Rougier for helping update the hallway path for classroom participation. A reminder that if your student forgot their log on Monday, if they bring it in this coming Monday, March 16^th, their minutes from Week 1 still count! We will back log their minutes. Also, if students have misplaced their reading logs, there are extra copies in the main office or you can download a copy from the blog (http://mcsreadathon.blogspot.com/) 

Also, you don’t need a sponsor to participate…every child can read and turn in the log even if they are unable to find sponsors.  However, if your child is in need of a sponsor, we do have community members who are willing to sponsor a child, so please let your student’s teacher or Holly Esterline know if you are interested in being matched with a community sponsor.

COMING UP THIS WEEK – Thursday, March 19th—Author Visit: Ted Scheu.  Scheu is a nationally-known children’s writer from Middlebury, VT. Ted Scheu’s own poems, published in over two dozen anthologies and poetry collections in the US and UK, are borne of his childhood memories, as well as from his experience as an elementary teacher and parent. “I try to capture in my poems the silliness and sadness, the worries and the wonders of being a kid–whether it’s school life, or the surprising things that happen at home and with friends,” said Scheu recently. “My goal in my own writing, and especially in my teaching, is to help kids find their own voices. Poetry is the best way I’ve found to get kids revved up about their writing.  Its simple format and easy emotional connections seem to open hearts and get pencils dancing.”

Scheu, (pronounced “shy”), 60, travels all over the world as a visiting author.  His published works include his own collections—“Getting the Best of Me,” “I Tickled My Teachers,” “I Froze My Mother and Other Seriously Funny Family Poems,” “Now I Know My ZBCs,” and “I Threw My Brother Out,” (all from Young Poets’ Press, VT), as well as many popular US anthologies including, ”I Invited a Dragon to Dinner” by Philomel, NY (2002), and several anthologies from Meadowbrook Press, MN. Information about Scheu’s work may also be found at his web site at www.poetryguy.com

LOOKING FOR HELP –we always welcome anyone who might have time on Monday mornings from 8-9am, or whatever amount of time you are able to give, to tally reading logs. 

We are happy to announce the participation in each classroom and the top reader in each grade:

Participation for Each Classroom – Week 1

Ms. Lynch – 78%

Ms. Livingston – 90%

Ms. Totu – 79%

Ms. Kuzio – 73%

Ms. McLane – 74%

Ms. Carter – 56%
Ms. O’Sullivan – 67%

Ms. Pierpont – 53%

Highest rate of participation was Ms. Livingston at 90%

School-wide Total Minutes - 34,842 minutes

School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 221 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade – Week 1

Kindergarten – Lincoln Arseneau

1^st Grade – Samantha Becker

2^nd Grade – Aiden Bouchard

3^rd Grade – William Zaikowski

4^th Grade – Waydon Cherrington

5^th Grade – Clary Crary

6^th Grade – Valkyrja Hotmer

Teacher/Staff – Ms. Cota

Jess Abbott, Adrienne Rafael, Cathy Cashman, and Betsy Brown helping with tallying reading logs on Monday morning.

Let's read s'more...books!

Library Camp Read S'more

Teachers and staff at Monkton Central School - what's your favorite book?  Open the book cover in the hallway to find out!

Read-a-thon PTO Fundraiser

Ready, Set...Read!

The kick-off to the Read-a-thon has begun! Today a reading log for the month of March went home with your child and reading has begun on Sunday, March 1st. Please initial their log every night after they have recorded the minutes spent reading (or being read to) outside of classroom hours. Also, please help remind your child to bring their reading log to school each Monday morning throughout March starting on Monday, March 9^th. They will be returned that same day to bring home again. The first time each student brings in their log on a Monday they will receive a special treat. If you are missing the log, calendar of events or sponsor pledge envelopes, they can be down loaded from this blog or extras can be found in the main office. Students can continue finding sponsors any time through the end of March.

Also, you don’t need a sponsor to participate…every child can read and turn in the log even if they are unable to find sponsors.  However, if your child is in need of a sponsor, we do have community members who are willing to sponsor a child, so please let your student’s teacher or Holly Esterline know if you are interested in being matched with a community sponsor.

COMING UP THIS WEEK – Classroom reading tents.  Each classroom will have a reading tent to create a space for students to go and take time to read inside the tent throughout the week.

LOOKING FOR HELP –we always welcome anyone who might have time on Monday mornings from 8-9am, or whatever amount of time you are able to give, to tally reading logs.

Welcome to the Monkton Central School Read-a-thon blog!

It's that time again for our Spring fundraiser!  We loved all the enthusiastic participation of our students in our last five Read-a-thons and the support of our school and local community, that we are excited to do it again.  This year, our read-a-thon theme is "Camp Read S'more!"  Students will be looking for sponsors to pledge money for the minutes they will read beginning Friday, February 14th and will start their month long reading challenge from March 1-28th.

This blogsite is a way for students and parents to get more information (see the "About" and "Forms" tabs) as well as a well for all family, friends, community members, parents and students to see our journey through books. We will be posting our classroom tallies, photos from special events like the author visit, as well as encouragement for students to keep on reading!

If you would like to Sponsor a child and pledge money towards the Read-a-Thon, please let your child's classroom teacher or Holly Esterline, school librarian, know. If you are a community member and would like to Sponsor a child who might be in need of a Sponsor, please email Anna Lester at alester@smcvt.edu.

We look forward to this important fundraiser that also is a celebration of reading!

Final Results!

Final Results!

With our Read-a-thon theme, Reading is A Winning Strategy!, we hope that the time students spent reading that helped explore new books and discover more about themselves and the world around them.

Our final tally of total minutes read was really impressive – 145,817 total minutes read by students, teachers, and staff in 30 days! We had 148 students, teachers, and staff participate by turning in reading logs at least once throughout the month and 76 students reached Mountain Lion Reader status (450 minutes for grades K-2, 600 minutes for grades 3-4, and 900 minutes for grades 5-6).

We also raised $3,465.93  for PTO activities such as trips to the Flynn Theater, classroom field trips, providing after school enrichment opportunities, the Four Winds Nature Program, contributing toward programs such as the Artists in Residence, helping provide materials for classrooms and much more!

Events such as Rock and Read Week, Drop Everything And Read, Harry Bliss’s author visit, and Mystery Reader Week were all fun and celebrated the reading students had been doing.

Thanks to all the students for the many hours they put into reading, to the parents for encouraging their students, for the community for supporting through sponsor pledges, and for the teachers and staff for their engagement and enthusiasm!  A special thanks to the Read-a-thon mascot PAWS and the committee members Holly Esterline, Betsy Knox, Melissa Vorsteveld, Sarah Rougier, Theresa Schwegel, Cathy Cashman, Adrienne Raphael, and Anna Lester.  A special thanks to parent volunteers Betsy Brown, John McNerney, Jen Stanley, Cathy and Brian Cashman, Sarah Rougier, and Theresa and Eva Schwegel for help with tallying and counting.

Top readers – students who read the most cumulative minutes over the 30 days

Kindergarten – Samantha B.

Grade 1 – Silas C.

Grade 2 – Toby H.

Grade 3 – Callie R.

Grade 4 – Megan B. & Benji H.

Grade 5 – Valkyrja H.

Grade 6 – Whitney D.

Teacher – Ms. Cota

Top Classroom with highest percent participation over 5 weeks by having 100% participation all 5 weeks and earning an ice cream party is Ms. Carter's Kindergarten class!

Raffle Prizes – (All raffle prizes will be sent home with students on Friday).

Autographed copies of Harry Bliss’s books:

          Good Rosie – Tim H.

          Good Rosie – Aubrey C.

          Anna and Solomon – Hailey I.

          Anna and Solomon – Ezra H.

          Grace for Gus – Ezra S.

          My Favorite Pets – Valkyrja H.

Two movie tickets to Marquis Movie Theater in Middlebury – Hannah P.

6 passes for bowling Spare Time Free – Bryn W.

Free 6” sub coupons to Subway – Silas C.

Gift card for Almost Home in Bristol – William Z.

Gift card for Emerald’s Gifts in Bristol – Andy K.

Gift card for Monkton General Store – Ian B.

Gift card for Amazon – Megan B.

Two passes for a Beginner Package at Petra Cliffs – Ivy A.

Family Day Pass to Shelburne Museum – Violet L.

One Month Family Membership at The Edge – Kaiden P.

One Month Family Membership at The Edge – Alison B.

One Month Family Membership at The Edge – Spencer S.

One Month Family Membership at The Edge – Johnny S.

Reading is A Winning Strategy surprise!
For all the students who earned Mountain Lion Reader status, they got to vote on teachers or staff members who volunteered to do something exciting at the Closing Ceremony. Students who completed the BINGO card on the back of the reading log got their vote counted twice.  There was a tie for the teacher/staff with the most votes this year - Ms. Livingston and Mr. Davis.  They were "contestants" on the Price is Right Plinko game where they won a "prize" depending on which slot the plinko chip landed in.  Scroll down through photos below of our final week and a video of the Plinko game.

Our hallway graph and posters:

Here is our wall of Mountain Lion Readers:

So many great books read during the last 30 days:

Celebrating our total minutes, pledges, participants, and Mountain Lion Readers at our Closing Ceremony!

Our top readers in each grade and top staff:

Our top classroom of readers who had 100% participation all 5 weeks - Ms. Carter's Kindergarten class!

Click below to see the video of our Plinko game with Ms. Livingston and Mr. Davis. 

Monkton Central School Closing Ceremony 2019

Week 4 - 112,896 minutes read so far!

Week 4 - 112,896 minutes read so far!

Week 4 results are in! We have had another incredible week with 112,896 total minutes read by students, staff and teachers so far. Below are the results for Week 4 and the top readers in each grade.  This week, we also had 21 more new students achieve "Mountain Lion Reader".  Great job to these wonderful students!

Just one more week to go!

IMPORTANT REMINDER:

·    Please remind students to bring in their reading log AND sponsor pledge envelopes with money collected from their sponsors in on MONDAY, APRIL 1st. Students who bring in both of these to school will be entered into a raffle for prizes such as gift certificates and other items!  If students forget to turn in their reading log and sponsor pledge envelopes on Monday, we are hoping that students bring them before the Closing Ceremony on Thursday if possible.

Participation for Each Classroom – Week 4

Ms. Carter– 90%

Ms. Lynch – 69%

Ms. Livingston – 92%

Ms. Totu – 91%

Ms. Kuzio – 62%

Ms. McLane – 61%

Ms. O’Sullivan – 70%

Ms. Pierpont – 78%

School-wide Total Minutes - 124,461 minutes

School-wide Average Total Minutes Read - 186 minutes

Top Reader in Each Grade - Week 4

Kindergarten – Samantha Becker

1^st Grade – Silas Cashman

2^nd Grade – Tobias Hamilton 

3^rd Grade – Callie Rule

4^th Grade – Benji Havey

5^th Grade – Johnny Stanley

6^th Grade – Whitney Dykstra

Teacher/Staff – Ms. Cota