| 
Mrs. Doyle presents awards at the Reading
is Fundamental celebration at Koenig Elementary School in
Two Rivers.
| In a countrywide program to excite children about reading, Koenig
Elementary School in Two Rivers is one of two schools to receive
the national award for the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) program.
On June 3, Koenig received the Margaret McNamara Readers Cup
named in honor of the founder of RIF, $2,000 gift cards to buy
books, medals for each child who participated, a national champion
banner, and a celebration at the school that included a picnic
lunch, highlights video, songs, guest speakers, sundaes, and a
visit from Snoopy. Founded in 1996, Reading Is Fundamental, Inc. (RIF) is a non-profit
organization that inspires children to read, and works with parents
and community members to make reading a part of everyday life.
Three elements are a part of all RIF programs: reading motivation,
family and community involvement, and the excitement of choosing
free books to keep. All 265 Koenig students participated in the two-week program,
"Reading Rocks," in February. The program encouraged
students to read for 20 minutes each night. The school offered
awards like riding to school in a PT Cruiser, throwing pies at
teachers, and giving a teacher a Mohawk haircut. The campaign
called for local businesses, police department, fire department,
college athletes, and parents to participate by reading with the
children. The school surpassed the goal of reading 52,000 minutes
in the two weeks and reached 80,560 minutes. Koenig Elementary School won the same award in 2004. Principal
Lisa Quistorf said setting a two-year goal helped tremendously
in motivating the kids to read. The ultimate goal of Koenig's
participation was to make reading a fun part of everyday life,
she said. Quistorf said the teachers and staff worked together as a cohesive
group to involve the community and get the children excited about
the program. Community involvement is essential to motivate kids
because "when they believe they can be good readers, they
become good readers," she said. She also said positive achievements lead to more positive achievements.
The reading scores on the Wisconsin Knowledge and Concept Exam
for Koenig's 3rd-grade class have skyrocketed over the past few
years, going from below the state average to well above this year. The most essential part of the program is to have a solid team
committed to the same goal, Quistorf said. All of the team members
at Koenig are there to support, guide, and help each other and
students to reach collective goals. In addition, a key factor
is keeping class sizes small so teachers and staff can really
get to know every child, she said. RIF also recognized the School District of Thorp as a state champion. RIF reaches underprivileged children up to age 8, and provides
five million children with 17 million new, free books every year
with the help of a national grassroots network of volunteers. For more information, visit http://www.rif.org Posted June 7, 2005 |