Readers Become Leaders Program
The NCAA Readers Become Leaders Program aims to help teachers who are dealing with a literacy crisis that affects children of all demographics. Educational data have shown that if reading is below grade level by the fourth grade, students are four times more likely to drop out of school. Readers Become Leaders was created to encourage children to explore their talents, which lays a foundation for future educational goals, such as attending college.
In 2019, the Fort Worth Sports Commission teamed up with the NCAA Readers Become Leaders program and the Fort Worth ISD to implement the program in grades PreK – 5 as part of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships hosted in Fort Worth. In six years, the program has seen more than 125,000 students read more than 164 million minutes. The program is back again this year and the incentives and benefits to the students and participating schools have never been better.
Timeline
October 9th - Registration Open
January 24th – Last Day to Register
January 27th – Competition Begins and Kick-off Party
April 7th – Last day to log minutes
April 16th – Winner announced at Dickies Arena
How it Works:
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Elementary schools sign up for the program using the app Helper Helper.
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Students log their minutes read every day and turn those minutes into their teacher at the end of the week.
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The teacher totals their minutes for the classroom and enters the total onto the app.
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Weekly totals are updated and communicated to the participating schools.
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At the end of the 10 week program the top two schools from each division and the next two top reading schools are invited to the open practice of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships and the winners are announced.
Prizes:
*The first 40 schools to register for the program will receive a library refresh – 150 new books (25 per grade level) donated to their library by the Fort Worth Sports Commission.
Grand Prize
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$1500 Scholastic Credit
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$500 gift card for pizza party
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$100 Visa Gift Card for each teacher
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Scholastic Grab and Go Packet for each student
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Clifford for Pizza Party
1st Place School in each Division (2 schools total)
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$1000 Scholastic Credit
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$500 gift card for pizza party
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$100 gift card for each teacher
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250 book library refresh
2nd, 3rd & 4th for each Division (9 schools)
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$75 Visa Gift Card for each teacher
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School Library Refresh – 150 books for the school library
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Top Classroom for All Grades Pre-K-5 (7 classes)
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$500 Scholastic Gift Card
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Scholastic Grab and Go Packets for all students – 5 books per pack
Total Minutes Reading:
101 million+
Total Students Reading:
92,000+
