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80 FWISD Elementary Schools Sign Up for NCAA® Readers Become Leaders Community Program
Watch highlights from the kick-off here.
M.H. Moore Elementary, backed by the W.A. Meacham Middle School Band and cheerleaders and the Diamond Hill-Jarvis High School Drum Line and cheerleaders, hosted the Readers Become Leaders program kickoff event to encourage students at 80 elementary schools to log as many reading minutes as possible for the next 10 weeks. Readers Become Leaders is an NCAA initiative in partnership with the National Collegiate Women’s Gymnastics Championships, the Fort Worth Sports Commission and Fort Worth Independent School District. Special guests included Fort Worth ISD Chief of Schools, Jerry Moore, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker, Trustee Roxanne Martinez, TCU athletes, and Fort Worth Sports Commission.
Guests addressed the crowd of students and talked about the importance of reading. Mayor Parker took reading-related questions from students, such as what the Mayor likes to read and who her favorite authors are. M.H. Moore Principal Ricardo Alvarez, whose school won the contest last year, enthusiastically challenged students to beat their record. TCU athletes and Clifford the Big Red Dog made surprise visits to classrooms to read to students at the conclusion of the event. Elementary librarians attended the kick-off to support the program.
The Readers Become Leaders program encourages and incentivizes students in grades K-5 to read on a consistent basis. More than 55,000 FWISD students participated in the program the past four years, reading a combined 29 million-plus minutes, making it the biggest NCAA community outreach program in history.
The first 40 schools that signed up will receive a library refresh of 150 new books donated to their libraries by the Fort Worth Sports Commission. Students will also receive a wide variety of fun gifts to keep them motivated to read. The winning school will receive prizes for the school itself, all of its teachers, and every student, along with a pizza party attended by Clifford the Big Red Dog.
The top six schools will be invited to attend the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Open Practice on April 12, where the winning school will be announced.