February 28, 2020
Diamond Credit Union visited Reading Olympics participants who are elementary school students in the Pottstown School District on February 21. The competition was held at the middle school.
The history
In 2020, Diamond Credit Union and the Pottstown School District are celebrating 15 years of teaming up to make Reading Olympics special.
The competition
- Over 150 students in elementary grades participated and split up into several teams. Middle and high school students also compete in other Reading Olympics events.
- The competition is three rounds.
- Teams field questions about 4o-plus books they read, collectively, before the event.
Why it works
- Reading Olympics strives to make reading fun by combining academics and competition.
- A teamwork component is a fun twist on a task that is more often individually performed.
- Not every student reads each of the 40-plus books which makes it imperative for students to do their part so they can rely on each other.
- The time preparing for the event inspires the kids to root for each other to read.
- The competition challenges the student’s ability to command their recall skills.
- Recall skills are then applied to the team environment which ties reading to the group’s success which gives students the chance to lead.
Short and long-term impact
- The Pottstown School District’s in-house Reading Olympics event also helps students gear-up for the Montgomery County Reading Olympics, which all Pottstown School District students will compete in this spring.
- District officials see the kids as more than students. “Readers become leaders. That’s you,” John Armato, Director of Community Relations for the Pottstown School District, told the assembled students. “Somebody in here is going to be a doctor. Somebody in here might be a scientist. What I see are the people that are going to be the future leaders of our country.”
- To Armato’s point, now in its 15th year, some students who were participants in the early years of Reading Olympics, are now teachers in the Pottstown School District. Others are college graduates who have begun promising careers.
That’s younity
- Diamond’s participation elevates morale by making books, supplies, transportation, and team t-shirts available for the students.
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