St. Clair Middle School in the East China School District has been recognized on a state-wide level for students’ achievements in reading through a Scholastic competition. To keep kids reading all year long, the national company, Scholastic, hosts a Summer Read-a-Palooza competition with the goal of keeping children reading while also getting books in the hands of kids in need. As students read and track their minutes spent reading, they log them into the Scholastic program and Scholastic then donates books to the United Way.
This year, St. Clair Middle School was the top reading school in the state with over 312,000 minutes read. According to St. Clair Middle school teacher Michelle Barker and Principal Mike Domagalski, over 300 students participated over the summer. The effort to keep kids reading all year long is supported by the school’s Parent Teacher Organization which provides incentives and strives to make it an ongoing part of the culture of the school. As explained by Principal Domagalski, each student is provided with the opportunity to log their reading throughout their time at the middle school. This practice paid off with the school winning the state competition and contributing to Scholastic donating up to 200,000 books to students in need.
Reporting for WGRT, Karly Hurley
