Reading Olympics a huge success
There was no "Agony of Defeat" in this Olympics; only the "Thrill of Victory".
The Students at New Prague Intermediate School recently completed their version of the Reading Olympics to coincide with "I Love to Read Month".
Each class represented a country, which they followed during the real Winter Olympic Games in Torino, Italy. The different countries were introduced at an opening ceremony held at the school on February 10.
Each class kept track of the number of minutes that were read in and out of school during a two-week period and moved an "ice skate" around a pond, which corresponded to the number of minutes read by the class. The skates were moved each day, which showed progress. When a level of 5,000 minutes was reached, a class would earn a bronze medal. At 10,000 minutes a silver medal would be earned and a gold medal was earned for 20,000 minutes.
During the Reading Olympics the students and staff read a total of 608,493 minutes. Broken down a little further, somebody would have to read continuously for nearly 14 months to equal the output at the Intermediate School.
Each student received a medal and a certificate of participation at the closing ceremonies, held last Friday at the school.
Each class also received a certificate stating the number of minutes read and the color of the medal it earned. There were no bronze medals awarded, only gold and silver.
Nick Huber's fourth grade class finished with the highest number of minutes read with 28,415.
During the closing ceremony students, along with Principal Barb Wilson, applauded the staff of NPIS for being great "coaches", something all students need.