Saint John the Baptist Elementary tops in reading for 5th consecutive year

Friday, Mar. 06, 2015

DRAPER — The Saint John the Baptist Elementary  School  gymnasium was filled, the cheering bounced off the walls, and smiling children clapped as they celebrated the fifth year in a row that they placed in the Top 10 of the annual “Be a Team Player – Read!” Contest, sponsored by the Utah Jazz.

On Feb. 24 the students were honored with a winners’ assembly during which Utah Jazz player Trey Burke visited the school to read to students and play some basketball with them. 

As the reading competition began, “each of my students created their own number/last name to wear for the Jazz Reading kickoff, a la marathon runners on the back of a jersey,” said 3rd-grade teacher Melissa Velez. “After the kickoff, we hung them in the classroom.”

Then, every day, Velez put a star on each students’ chart for every hour that they read. 

“They excitedly crowded around on Fridays to see who had the most stickers each week. The amount of reading getting done was insane!” said Velez.

Overall, more than 23,590 students from 46 elementary schools participated in this year’s contest and read a combined total of 13,180,950 minutes.

“During the course of the Jazz reading contest I watched my students become very motivated to take Accelerated Reader quizzes,” said Stephanie Molloy, Saint John the Baptist 2nd-grade teacher, adding that the students passed every quiz with 85 percent above accuracy.

“Each time Mrs. Ward [the principal] called the winning names, they would cheer for their friends, and their enthusiasm grew,” said Molloy.

The winning schools of this year’s Be a Team Player – Read! contest were Arches Academy (Orem), Lincoln Academy (Pleasant Grove), Monticello Academy (West Valley), Northlake Elementary (Tooele), Redeemer Lutheran School (Salt Lake City), Reid Elementary (Salt Lake City), St. John the Baptist Elementary (Draper), St. Olaf Elementary (Bountiful), Syracuse Arts Academy (Syracuse), and The Ranches Academy (Eagle Mountain).

The Utah Jazz also awarded 10 runners-up with a team-autographed basketball. These schools were Beacon Heights Elementary (Salt Lake City), Carl Sandburg Elementary (West Valley), Eagle Bay Elementary (Farmington), Emerson Elementary (Salt Lake City), Harvest Elementary (Saratoga Springs), Quail Hollow Elementary (Sandy), Riverdale Elementary (Riverdale), St. Francis Xavier (Kearns), Wasatch Elementary (Salt Lake City), and Windridge Elementary (Kaysville).

“‘Be A Team Player – Read!’ is one of the Jazz organization’s largest community outreach programs,” said Randy Rigby, Utah Jazz president. “The contest shows students that reading can be a fun and rewarding hobby and is part of our ongoing efforts to support youth development and education.”