Spring ISD elementary and middle school students were once again challenged to read as many books as they could over Spring Break for a chance to win an Amazon Kindle tablet.

Mirroring the “Chill Out and Read” contest held over the Winter Break, two students were selected as the overall winners for having completed the most books read by a student according to their campus level. This time, the district presented the top three elementary and the top three middle school campuses with a traveling banner and a certificate.

“We noticed that our principals are motivated by a little friendly competition so we decided to implement the traveling banner to incentivize all of our campuses to participate,” said Director of Elementary Curriculum Kelli Anderson. “The traveling banner will be presented to the top three campuses at both the elementary and middle school level for principals to sign and, hopefully, to keep after next year’s contest.”

In order for the contest to be more accessible for all, students had access to Renaissance Learning’s myON Reader platform, which integrates seamlessly with district tablets and Chromebooks to put over 6,000 books right at students’ fingertips. The platform is available year-round and can be accessed through the mySpringISD portal.

First grader Aariz Hussain was announced as the winner of the most number of books read by an elementary student. He currently attends Marshall Elementary, which was also named as the first place winner of the most books read by an elementary campus. Hussain himself read a total of 1,093 books out of the campus total of 3,015.

Marshall celebrated its second victory in the reading contest this spring, after the campus also finished in first place for December’s “Chill Out and Read” contest. Eickenroht Elementary came in second place this time around with a total of 510 books completed, and Cooper Elementary came in third at the elementary level with a total of 175 books read.

Lyndsey Byrd, a sixth grader at Twin Creeks Middle School, won the award for most books read by a middle school student. Overall, she read a total of 60 books over Spring Break, and was presented with an Amazon Kindle tablet and a certificate for her achievement.

Apart from being the home campus to Byrd, Twin Creeks also took home the first place title for most books read by a middle school campus, having completed a total number of 110 books. The second place middle school winner was Bammel Middle School, where students completed 75 books, while Spring Leadership Academy came in third place having completed 17 total books read.

“The Spring Into Reading program is an emphasis on literacy, and that’s the foundation of what we are about and what we want to continue to champion for our scholars,” said Spring Leadership Academy Principal Dr. Kevin Banks.

2021 Spring Into Reading Winners:

• Most Number of Books Read by An Elementary Student – Aariz Hussain (1st grade), Marshall Elementary
• Most Number of Books Read by A Middle School Student – Lyndsey Byrd (6th grade), Twin Creeks Middle School 
• Most Number of Books Read by An Elementary Campus
  • 1st place – Marshall Elementary 
  • 2nd place – Eickenroht Elementary 
  • 3rd place – Cooper Elementary 
• Most Number of Books Read by A Middle School Campus
  • 1st place – Twin Creeks Middle School 
  • 2nd place – Bammel Middle School 
  • 3rd place – Spring Leadership Academy