ELBERTA – Stop, Sit and Read is the daily activity for students at Elberta Middle School as a part of the school’s revamped reading incentive program that is giving Kelly McCrady, school librarian, a run for her books.

“In order to motivate students, we created an incentive program,” she said. 

The program “Get Groovy…Read!” emphasizes reading as an integral part of the students’ education, and most importantly, helps them realize the joy of reading.

Time is set aside everyday for all students so that reading becomes a top-priority for their education, and also to promote participation in the incentive program.   

She said students select their own books – fiction, non-fiction, biographies and popular series – and then take computerized tests on the material. 

Students earn points if they successfully pass the tests.  Points range from 5 to 30, depending on the length or complexity of the title, such as the level of vocabulary or ideas represented, she said. 

Students collect points, earning prizes along the way.  75-points guarantees a uniform-free day pass, and 300-points earns a $50 gift certificate to the place of their choice. 

And every 5 points earned, students are entered into a weekly drawing for small prizes, and quarterly drawings for tickets to local attractions. 

McCrady is certainly thrilled with the level of participation this year.

“It’s just been amazing and wonderful,” she said. 

And the results certainly show: 171 students have earned at least 50 points.

“I had some students come to me and say I didn’t read that much last year, but now they say they love reading,” she said. 

Next year, McCrady plans to add more incentives including grade level competitions for prizes, and students will be able to compete against teachers as well. 

As the end of the day announcements were read over the loud-speaker, one bit of news revealed the Get Groovy Reader of the Week - Kathryn Rachel. 

The following names are students who have earned at least 50 points this year for the “Get Groovy…Read!” at Elberta Middle School.