Streetsboro Elementary School recently concluded its third annual Read-a-Thon, raising $4,000 to support the school library while encouraging students to develop a love of reading.
The fundraiser, spearheaded by SES Librarian Barb Potkay, engaged 90 students in reading activities throughout the event. The Read-a-Thon combines literacy promotion with fundraising, allowing students to collect pledges from family and friends for time spent reading.
Students who participated earned various incentives based on their reading time and fundraising efforts. The two classes that raised and read the most received pizza parties, while other participants enjoyed popsicle parties. All participating students also had the opportunity to serve as librarian during their class time.
Over the past few years, the Read-a-Thon has featured creative incentives to motivate student participation. Students who raised $50 or more earned the chance to throw whipped cream pies at staff members. In previous years, students also earned rewards such as bookmarks, pajama days and gift certificates to the book fair based on their participation levels.
"I believe that if you make library time fun and have special things for the students, that they will enjoy the library and continue to come down and check out books," said Potkay. "Anything I can think of to get the students to read, I will try."
The Read-a-Thon platform, provided through Read-a-Thon.com, offers schools an alternative to traditional book fairs. The program provides participating schools with promotional materials including fliers, stickers and posters to help spread awareness throughout the school community.
In the past three years, the Read-a-Thon has raised over $20,000 combined for library resources and programming while creating positive reading experiences for the district’s youngest Rockets.