Students win bikes for reading
CALEXICO — Seven Mains Elementary School students had the opportunity on Tuesday to ride home on the new bicycles they earned for being recognized as the campus’ top readers.
The seven students were among a total of 49 students throughout the Calexico Unified School District who had received new bicycles for earning the most points in the district’s accelerated reading program.
“Today’s readers will become tomorrow’s leaders,” CUSD Board Trustee Lorenzo Calderon Jr. told Mains’ excited student body during an assembly Tuesday.
After having thanked the campus’ teachers and parents for helping keep students motivated about reading, Calderon also honored the campus community for having achieved the district’s best attendance record for the school year.
Although the district’s AR program dates back nearly 20 years, the concept of providing new bicycles to the highest point earners in each grade level at the district’s elementary schools started more recently, in 2015.
Mains Elementary third-grade teacher Myrna Valenzuela said 100 percent of her class has met their respective AR program reading goals for the past three years.
The accomplishment was made possible by pairing struggling students with highly proficient readers, or “ambassadors” as they are called in the classroom, as well as by keeping parents involved.
“We constantly communicate with parents and their children about and how many points they need to meet their goal,” Valenzuela said.
Students earn points in the AR program after taking a computerized test that evaluates their comprehension of a library book that is assigned based on their respective reading levels.
“Every year we have more and more students reaching their goals,” Valenzuela said.