Former New England Patriots Super Bowl champion Malcom Mitchell, who struggled with reading as a youth, created READBowl to get more students excited about reading. The event is open to elementary, middle, and high school students around the world.
In their first year of competition, Paragon students combined to read for 237,568 minutes (just shy of 4,000 hours!). Library Technology Specialist Meagan Johnson said the effort has been a great way to connect with parents, as well as encouraging students to read.
“For year one I think we did amazing!” Johnson said. “We had a lot of feedback from parents that really enjoyed working at home with their kids, who were pumped to be reading for this competition. That’s a win right there.”
Johnson, a former ELA teacher with a passion for reading, focuses on activities to make reading fun for students. This one was an easy choice.
“When I see the kids in my class and I bring it up, I am able to pump them up. We are also working on increasing students' reading stamina, so this is helping with that as well.”
This event has sparked the competitive feeling in some students at Paragon, which has been fun for Johnson to see.
“(One student) has been my biggest reader I have ever seen in the school setting. She reads all the time, but she is also competitive, so for something like this, or Reading Month, it really lights a fire under her. She challenges herself to read beyond the "normal" repertoire of books. She also does a great job talking with her peers about what she is reading and sparking their interest in books they might not think of reading.”
Students realized this competition brought out good traits in themselves, with some pushing themselves to read more challenging chapter books and back off the video game time they normally spend at home. Here are some of their thoughts:
David in fifth grade: "I have upped the time I read from 10 minutes at home, to 20 minutes each day. I have also been able to find more books that interest me in the library.”
McKenzie in third grade: "I am competitive, so I want to help my class win. I have started reading 45 minutes from my normal 25. I have also been able to find a new series that has really sucked me in."
Elijah and Camden in second grade: "With READBowl I have been using my downtime to read more instead of technology or games."
Annabella in first grade: "I have been practicing reading during READBowl so I can get better at reading chapter books."
At the conclusion of the event on Super Bowl Sunday, Mitchell, the former football player who created the competition, posted a video to congratulate all who participated.
“I want you to know that everyone who participated is a champion,” he said. “The reason I feel that way is you all engaged with an activity that will help you get the most out of life, and that’s reading.”
More than 20,000 teams around the world participated in the competition in divisions grouped by grade levels. Within those groups were 808,674 students who read for 528,338,768 minutes over the four weeks. That translates to 336,902 whole days of reading, or 1,005 years.
Congrats on being part of a great reading effort, Paragon!
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About Paragon Charter Academy
Paragon Charter Academy is a tuition-free, public charter school in Jackson, Michigan, serving students in Young 5s through eighth grade. It is part of the National Heritage Academies (NHA®) network, which includes more than 100 tuition-free, public charter schools serving more than 65,000 students in kindergarten through 12th grade across nine states. For more information, visit nhaschools.com.
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