As part of our celebration around the 2015 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, we're highlighting the stories of participating schools around the world. We've asked representatives from several schools to share with us how their school used the program to motivate students around reading. In our third post, we hear from
Dr. Chad Prosen, principal of the Western Avenue School in Flossmoor, Illinois. After logging 571,210 minutes, they ranked #73 out 6,229 participating schools!
Can you share a few quick stats about your school?
Western Avenue School has 481 students in grades EC-5. The school is located in Flossmoor, Illinois about 28 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. Western Avenue is a diverse community that serves a student population of 45% African American, 45% Caucasian, and about 10% other. There are 63 faculty and staff members who service the school community.
What drew you to the program?
Each trimester, our building literacy team conducts a reading incentive program and hosts an annual family literacy night. For our last reading incentive of the 2014-15 school year, we wanted to address the summer regression we sometimes see in student progress. The Summer Challenge from Scholastic was the perfect avenue!
How did your school community get behind the Summer Challenge?
We launched a school wide assembly at the end of the 2014-15 school year that included professional BMX bikers coming to our school to promote reading.
As the school principal, what did you do to motivate your students around summer reading?
I have a wonderful team of teachers and an amazing literacy support team that continually discusses the importance of reading with the students. I simply supported them and they took the ball and rolled with it. They promoted the assembly as well as the challenge by speaking with the students. The teachers kept the parents involved through various social media outlets and digital communication tools. Additionally, we have a very involved parental community that stresses the importance of education with their children. Having received this distinction is a true credit to them as well!
What’s your plan for encouraging independent reading during the school year? Do you set aside reading time during the school day, encourage students to read at home, or both?
We have a 120 minute ELA block each day that includes guided reading groups, individualized learning paths, and 1:1 technology at all grade levels. Additionally, we will continue to have 3 reading incentives and a family literacy night as an annual occurrence. The first reading incentive of the year is underway, and it will include an incentive of duct-taping the principal to the wall of the school if we reach our goal.
How do you plan to celebrate your school’s success?
We have been contacted by some dignitaries from the State of Illinois and we are in works to hold a school wide celebration.
