Ormond Beach Elementary finishes in first place for summer reading challenge

The Kiwanis READS summer challenge provided students with four free books last spring to read over the summer.

By Jarleene Almenas
| 3:00 p.m. October 28, 2019

OBE principal Shannon Hay and Dillon Kalkhurst, president of the Kiwanis Club of Ormond Beach, recognize the top readers of the school. Photo by Jarleene Almenas

Dillon Kalkhurst, president of the Kiwanis Club of Ormond Beach, speaks to OBE students at the school assembly on Friday, Oct. 25. Photo by Jarleene Almenas

Skyla Dunn, first grade, holds up her Top Reader certificate at the school assembly on Friday, Oct. 25. Photo by Jarleene Almenas

Terrance Sicilia, first grade, holds up his Top Reader certificate at the school assembly on Friday, Oct. 25. Photo by Jarleene Almenas

Mayor Bill Partington, OBE Principal Shannon Hay and Dillon Kalkhurst, president of the Kiwanis Club of Ormond Beach, announce the beginning of the ice cream party celebration. Photo by Jarleene Almenas

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Due to students reading a total of 225,345 minutes over the summer, Ormond Beach Elementary finished first place in Central Florida in the Kiwanis READS summer challenge.

The challenge began in May when the Kiwanis Club of Ormond Beach sponsored a Scholastic summer reading book fair, where the club provided every student with the opportunity to pick four free books to read over the summer. Each teacher was also allowed to select 10 books for their classroom libraries. The READS summer challenge is meant to prevent what Kiwanis calls a "summer slide," which refers to a loss of reading development when children do not read during the summer months.

OBE was up to the challenge.

More than half a million students from 1,741 schools participated nationally, with 120 from Florida, a press release stated. OBE finished third in the state in minutes read per student, and seventh in overall minutes in Florida. On average, participating OBE students read 10 hours and 44 minutes each.

When Dillon Kalkhurst, president of the Kiwanis Club of Ormond Beach, announced to OBE students on Friday, Oct. 25, that their school placed first in central Florida, the auditorium erupted in cheers. Those only got louder as Kalkhurst announced two more things: thanks to grants, the school will be able to repeat the challenge again next year, and, the students were getting ice cream to celebrate.

"We could not be more proud of our little Ormond Beach school," said Kalkhurst in the press release. "It makes us extremely
happy to know more than 2,000 books we provided free for the students and teachers were well read over the summer.”

So far, five more Kiwanis Clubs from Volusia and Flagler County will be joining the challenge and will sponsor a school in their communities, a press release states.

“The momentum of the Summer Reading Challenge has carried into the new school year,” OBE Principal Shannon Hay said in the press release. “Our children are still motivated to read! Students who were once unmotivated to read loved tracking their minutes and exceeded our expectations. Our kids are ready for the next challenge!"