Bookworms: West Students Step Up to Complete Reading Challenge

You may have noticed West students having their noses in a book this year. That’s because West Academic Interventionist Emily Schaefer challenged students to read 1,000 minutes by December on their own time, and students stepped up to the challenge. 

“I just want to encourage you to keep going, keep reading. Hopefully you’ve discovered fun authors and books and have had a great experience throughout this,” Schaefer told students Dec. 15 during a reward event for the 88 students who completed the challenge. “I’m super proud of you. I know your teachers are very proud of you. A lot of your parents have reached out to me and told me how proud they are of you, because this takes determination and responsibility. Congratulations and nice work.”

Schaefer started this challenge on a much smaller scale during the 2024-25 school year. Seeing the excitement in those students, as well as the increase in fluency rate, motivated her to expand to all third- and fourth-grade students this school year. 

Currently there are nearly 130 active participants in the challenge, and students are discovering that they actually enjoy reading. 

Third-grader Connor Walls said he likes “getting to read more books,” especially the series Dragon Masters, which he’s read 25 of the 30-plus books. 

“The thing I like about reading is that books tell you what the main actions are. Movies just show you what they’re feeling,” he said. 

Fourth-grader Maggie Harmon has read nearly 6,000 minutes this school year with no plans of stopping. 

“I like reading because you can learn a lot of things,” she said. “If you can’t go to other places, it’s like you’re going to those places. And, it’s really fun to hear different stories.”

The challenge continues through the end of the school year. Some students will work toward their 1,000 minutes, while others are now setting new goals. Schaefer is excited to see how this challenge will continue to grow in the future.

“Fluent readers can cover more text, which results in significant improvements in reading vocabulary. Fluent students spend more time reading to learn vs learning to read,” she said. “Fluent students connect emotionally with the characters and their experiences, making reading more enjoyable. Fluency also boosts confidence and exposes students to a larger variety of rich vocabulary. In the end, the hope is that our students in Ozark become lifelong readers!”