Schools

District 24 seeks community votes in contest

Schools in U.S. and Canada vie for monetary prizes

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District 24 is promoting itself in a contest that will award $30,000 prizes to schools that demonstrate a program that is preparing students for the demands of the 21st century. Voting in the Follett Challenge opened on Monday and will remain open through January 30.

Eligible public and private schools that applied will have their entries, which include a three- to five-minute video, assessed by judges who will look for demonstration of critical thinking, communication, creativity and collaboration between students and among educators. The final score will also be affected by the number of votes each entry receives.

Robert W. Carbonaro School Principal Rosario Iacono and district librarian Kate Lallier appear in the district’s video submission, which touts the school’s Parents as Reading Partners program.

“We came up with a little trick,” Lallier said in the clip. “We decided to turn reading into a team event. We have points, we have prizes, we have play in our very unique version of Parents as Reading Partners.”

The district puts a spin on the popular program, incorporating competition, art and performance. Students divide into teams and create crests for them. Lallier writes an original play based on the program’s theme that year which faculty performs. Students create cereal boxes to promote their teams, the school holds events like ice cream parties and visits from authors, and the principal subjects himself to a humility-inducing activity known as the Principal’s Challenge (like submitting to a Silly Stringing of the face).

The added fun all helps to get students excited about reading and motivate them to do it outside of school. That’s its real value, according to Waldinger Memorial Public Library librarian Jaclyn Kuntz.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “It really involves them outside of the school It’s something they do at home with their family, and then when they come to the library they think about it.”

Iacono said the district’s program promotes the “single most important skill in a child’s education. PARP helps build a vital relationship between the community and the school, encouraging the art of reading. Our students welcome the experience of being captivated by language and by their imaginations.”

Voters can cast one vote per day through the end of the voting period. Ten entries will be selected for $8,000 prizes based solely on which get the most votes. Three semifinalists will be selected by a combination of votes and judges’ scores for $30,000 prizes, and a grand prize winner will be selected from those three for an additional $30,000 prize.

To vote, visit FollettChallenge.com.