By Bryan Bloodworth
BLOOMINGTON – They are celebrating at Washington Elementary School and it’s not only because it’s the end of the school year.
It’s because students in grades 2 through 5 have surpassed the goal of ‘words read’ during the school year that was set by principal Jeff Lockenvitz at the beginning of the year.
“I’ve challenged our kids for the past few years to read a certain number of words,” said Lockenvitz. “If students are reading then they are improving on their reading because it’s something they are practicing. I challenged them to read 150 million words this year and at last check we had read 194 million words.
“We went past 150 million words at spring break and it just keeps going. It’s something we promote. Every month we have a count thermometer that charts how many words we’ve read each month. We also put it in our newsletter and we make announcements to let the kids know how they are doing.”
Did Lockenvitz expect the students to set a record this year?
“No, I really didn’t,” he admitted. “Our goal was 150 million words last year and we surpassed that. I think we went about 167 million, but we have fewer kids this year.”
Lockenvitz started the program, which is purchased through District 87 and Scholastic books, five years ago.
“We’re promoting this because if kids get excited about reading than they read more,” said Lockenvitz. “If you read more then you get better at reading. If you get better at reading then you’re going to do well in all your subjects as well, so it’s been a very positive program.”
All the books in the program series are accompanied by a 10-question, on-line quiz that students must pass to get credit for words read.
“(The quiz) is not something that’s easy,” continued Lockenvitz. “You obviously have had to read the book to pass the quiz.”
Lockenvitz said the first year of the program he set a goal of 40 million words to be read.
“It’s obviously grown over the years,” added Lockenvitz, who said the bulk of the reading is done by fourth and fifth graders. “This year we are going to go over 200 million. We have a few students who have already read 4 million words.
“One thing that hopefully has sparked some interest is that if our kids reach their goal then I do something goofy for them,” continued Lockenvitz.
“Last year I sang a solo at an all-school assembly from the movie Frozen. That’s probably the most scared I’ve ever been because I’m a terrible singer.”
Lockenvitz also has had a ‘W’ shaved in his head, kissed a pig, danced and had students shave his head and beard in past years.
And what does this year bring?
“I’m not sure yet, but it has to be something pretty good because the students have definitely earned something special,” said Lockenvitz. “Maybe I’ll take a pie to the face, dress as a girl or learn to ride a unicycle.”
Bryan Bloodworth can be reached at [email protected].
