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 fourth post, we hear from Sharon Powers, media specialist, and Stephanie Minter, Principal at Lake Nona Middle School in Orlando, Florida. After logging 6,526,662 minutes, they ranked #4 out of 6,229 participating schools!
Can you share a few quick stats about your school?
Lake Nona Middle School is part of Orange County Public Schools in Orlando, Florida. We are located in the Southeast Learning Community in the booming area of Medical City. Our current student population is 1787. We have been A rated by the state of Florida's Dept. of Education for the last five years. Our Free and Reduced Lunch population is 46%. Demographic breakdown is as follows: 32% White, 8% Black, 52% Hispanic, 1.5% Asian/Pacific Islander
What drew you to the program?
We know that summer slide is a real occurrence. Therefore we have instituted a mandatory summer reading program wherein students have to read at least two books and complete assignments for both books. Adding the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge was a natural compliment to our program. As students read their required, and above required reading, they could log their minutes and take advantage of all the site had to offer. As the winner for top middle school last year, we knew we already had the buy in from the students and faculty and this motivated everyone to participate again.
How did your school community get behind the Summer Challenge?
In May, we held a Summer Reading Kickoff here at the school. We has a scheduled Scholastic BOGO fair where we provided parents with the opportunity to purchase books for the summer. Teachers were provided logins prior to the May 4th contest start date so that students had them in their hands from the very beginning. Language arts teachers allotted class time ot the logging of minutes if students did not have availability at home . We visited our feeder elementary schools and provided our rising 6th grades with logins. As new students registered, the front office staff had logins available to assign to students.
As the school principal, what did you do to motivate your students around summer reading?
As the school principal, I have supported the efforts of the media specialist, clerk, and language arts teachers as they finished the challenge. I became the principal during the summer while the competition was in full swing. Communication with our parents was key as we closed out the contest. The Summer Reading Kickoff in May of this year was a huge success and motivator for the students as they began the summer. We also allowed instructional time to be used at the start of this year so that students who hadn't hadn’t had access to the site during summer could catch up and log their minutes.
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 encourage independent reading in each class through a number of different avenues such as whole group reading of novels, fiction articles through that of science and social studies classes, and throughout the year through a number of different initiatives such as the LNMS Ravenous Readers, that recognize and celebrate the top 20 library patrons each quarter and the SSYRA Reward Card which is earned by students who read three of the Sunshine State Young Readers Award books. In which, these cards entitle students to incentives and rewards as they read through the entire list.
How do you plan to celebrate your school’s success?
Announcements will be made to our district office to publicize our win. Parents will be notified via our parent communication phone system. Our social media sites will also display our win. During our upcoming Open Houses, a video produced by the media specialist highlighting our efforts and their upcoming author visit will be shown to all parents. Tables will also be set up with displays featuring the logos and author information. Of course, the big celebration will be the author visit. Activities are being developed to coincide with the upcoming visit.
