For the month of August, all students MacArthur students participated in the Summer reading contest to help promote Reading Counts participation on the Summer Reading books.  Sixth graders won the contest and read Windcatcher by Avi; seventh graders came in second place and read Esperanza Rising by Pam Muñoz Ryan, and eighth graders were in third place and read The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill.  

The Summer reading contest informed teachers which students successfully completed the book.  It also encouraged students to add to their annual word totals.  Over 700 students passed their tests, which was a majority of the campus.  The specific totals for each grade were: 270 sixth graders successfully passed Windcatcher, 241 seventh grader passed Esperanza Rising, and 208 eighth graders passed The Girl Who Drank the Moon. 

“If the students read the book over the Summer, there is a good chance they will pass the RC test,” said Language Arts Department Chair Mr. Gregory Celestino.

Each student had the entire Summer to complete the book.  According to Celestino, some students who failed probably read too early and forgot what the book was about or started reading too late and did not finish the book.  To make sure students passed their Summer reading title, some teachers reviewed the book as part of the start-of-the-year activities.

“I read The Girl Who Drank the Moon one week before school started so that it can be fresh in my head, and I can get a good score,” said eighth-grader Julia Ariston.

According to Celestino, it is important to read over the Summer because then students reading skills will remain sharp over the extended break.  Summer reading benefits the students because it is a way to practice their reading skills; therefore, it is very important to read over the summer.

The reward for the winners were paletas, fruit-sicles.  On September 12 the paletas were given out in the quad at lunch.  The paletas arrived in strawberry, lime, coconut, and watermelon flavors.  

For the remainder of the year, the language arts department will hold at least two more contests.  Last year, there was a classroom contest during the third term and a campus-wide contest during February.  Also, there are individual incentives for adding to reading totals including medals for million-word readers and a field trip for students who reach over two million.