Kids Read Competition

Since September, four of our Middle School students have dedicated themselves to reading a variety of books to join in our district’s first Kids Read Club and Kids Read Competition. Our ECC and Elementary Librarian, Mrs. Susan Zhang, collaborated with librarians at our partner school in Qingdao and our partner school in Wuhan to select sixty books from ten categories for participating students to read.

“We first collected those sixty books, and then, we would divide it among kids,” explains Mrs. Zhang. “They’re doing teamwork. They have their specialties. They can choose their favorite to read.” Teams were made up of four students. In the case of larger groups, a fifth student could join as an alternate. Our four students were GaHye E., Evan P., Maggie W., and Marshall W. Mrs. Zhang says each student enjoyed different categories of books, “which makes a great team. They complement each other.”

"They're doing teamwork. They have their specialities... They complement each other."

Mrs. Zhang and the club’s Team Lead Teacher, Mrs. Annie Platt, met with our students every Tuesday to hear about the books being read, to quiz students’ knowledge and comprehension, and sometimes, to celebrate their work with dessert or pizza parties. “We always have fun ideas to encourage the kids to read,” says Mrs. Zhang.

They set their reading and comprehension skills to the test at last week’s Kids Read Competition in Qingdao, competing against two teams from our partner school in Qingdao and one team from our partner school in Wuhan, which joined by Zoom. Our students worked together and answered many questions about the books and came in first place! Well done, team! You’ve worked so hard!

Mrs. Zhang hopes to continue the Kids Read Club next year and perhaps have two teams. Her goal “is to promote lifelong reading and then keep them interested in reading for fun. We’re not competitive. I told them just enjoy whatever, enjoy the process, no matter what the result.” Mrs. Zhang explains allowing children to read what they enjoy is one of the ways parents can encourage them to read more. Reaching out to her or to local librarians, they’ll find more books for students to enjoy.

Click here for more pictures of the event.