Fifth-Grader Calls Company Long-Distance To Say “Thanks”

King of Prussia, Pa.—When 10-year-old Alexis Oquendo placed a long-distance call from Naples, Florida to American Reading Company to thank people there for the 100 Book Challenge reading program she loves so much, no one was quite sure whether or not to believe her.

But after a few moments of speaking to the Palmetto Elementary School fifth-grader, it becomes clear that she is sincere and—most of all—passionate about reading.

“I don’t know who picks the books for 100 Book Challenge, but they are all really great topics,” she said. “I like the biographies about important people who have done something good for the world.”

Alexis has been involved in the 100 Book Challenge reading program since she began her school career in Philadelphia at the Mayfair School. When her family moved to Florida, she entered second grade at Sabal Palm Elementary School in the Collier County Public School District. Fortunately for Alexis, that school was also using 100 Book Challenge, making it easy for her to adjust. When the Palmetto Elementary School opened this past August, Alexis began fifth-grade there and participates in 100 Book Challenge in teacher Maria Sancho’s classroom.

100 Book Challenge is used in more than 1,600 schools nationwide and encourages children to read independently for 30 minutes in school and 30 minutes at home each day. Students are assigned by their reading ability to a certain level based on state standards. Each level is associated with a particular color, so that when it is time for students to read independently, they can select books from baskets that are color-coded to reflect their reading level. As their skills improve, students’ progress is recorded by both teachers and parents. Prizes are given to students as they reach various milestones either for time spent reading or for progressing to the next reading level.

At Palmetto Elementary School, Reading Coach Amy Pike said students are recognized for reaching milestones by being mentioned on the school’s morning news program. The friendly competition that the program generates, along with the variety of books provided, has led to school-wide enthusiasm for reading.

“What we have found is that children are just enjoying reading,” she said. “You walk by students in the hallway and they’ll tell you, ‘I’ve reached 200 steps.’”

Alexis enjoys the challenge of moving from one level to the next, and said she makes an effort to study the vocabulary words for each level so that she can master them and move on to a new basket of books.

“It gives me another purpose to read even more,” said the fifth-grader, who noted she reads for nearly two hours each day between school and home.

Alexis decided to call American Reading Company after noticing the company’s phone number on the back of one of her reading folders. Although she was a little nervous about placing the call, she said she didn’t really prepare anything to say. She just began telling the first person who answered about how much she loves 100 Book Challenge and that she wanted to say thank you.

Megan Maloney, Vice President of Sales and Consultant Services for the American Reading Company, happened to be in a meeting with President Jane Hileman when Alexis’ call came through. She said at first they thought Alexis might be pulling a prank. But after a few moments of talking to her, they could tell her enthusiasm was genuine. Then they spoke with Alexis’ mom, Mildred Martinez, who was unaware that her daughter had made the call.

Ms. Martinez said she was not surprised to find out her daughter had phoned, since Alexis is very bright and has clearly been affected by 100 Book Challenge. When she started the program in kindergarten, her progress was immediate.

“When she started school in September, by October she knew how to read,” she said, adding that now Alexis is reading on a seventh-grade level.

Her progress in reading has been supported strongly at home, where Ms. Martinez said the whole family reads. When Alexis notices something that one of her family members is reading, she will go to school and try to find books on the same topics. She even goes so far as to invite her family members to read her books and fires questions at them when they are done.

“She is very smart. She wants to be a doctor,” said Ms. Martinez.

Ms. Hileman was excited about Alexis’ phone call, which represents the first time a student has taken the initiative to personally call the company.

“In education, we sometimes tend to focus on test scores and grades as a reflection of how well a program works in the classroom,” said Ms. Hileman. “But hearing from a student like Alexis is one of the truest measures we have of the impact 100 Book Challenge can have on a child’s life.”

About American Reading Company

American Reading Company transforms school cultures to create sustainable reading achievement through training, management, and monitoring systems. The company was founded in 1998 and is now based in King of Prussia, Pa. Today, more than a million students in 1,800 schools across 420 districts in 40 states participate in the company’s programs. Extensive research results show that 100 Book Challenge has boosted the standardized reading test scores of students and dramatically closed the achievement gap in participating schools. Action 100 is the company’s most comprehensive intervention program to turn around the nation’s lowest-performing schools under the requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. For more information, please visit www.americanreading.com.