The winners of the 2019 Bookworm Reading Contest, run in partnership between WTBX, Sammy’s Pizza of Hibbing and Grand Rapids, and the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota (UWNEMN), were announced this month:
- Mrs. Reid's 2nd grade class at Parkview Elementary in Virginia won for the 1st-2nd grade level, reading 997 books.
- Mrs. Strahan's 3rd grade class at Meritt Elementary in Mt. Iron took home the first-ever Bookworm prize for the school, at the 3rd-4th grade level. Mrs. Strahan’s class read 552 books.
- Mrs. Rossini's 5th grade class at Chisholm Elementary won for the 5th-6th grade level, reading 94 books.
First through sixth-grade classrooms across the Northland participated in the contest, competing to see whose class could read the most books. The contest, celebrating its 20th year, kicked off in March when UNEWMN mailed two free age-appropriate books to each registered classroom to add to their library.
The winning classrooms earned a Sammy’s pizza party with WTBX’s Craig Holgate, who said he enjoys doing the program every year.
“For over 15 years I've been able to visit classrooms all over the Northland and share the love of reading with many students,” he said. “Sammy’s Pizza of Hibbing and Grand Rapids and the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota have been great supporters of this program as well.”
UWNEMN staff also attended the pizza parties with a selection of books, giving each student the opportunity to choose a book to bring home for themselves.
“On the Iron Range, we are united to help children succeed, and promoting literacy is an important part of that work,” said UWNEMN Community Impact Coordinator Michelle Lampton.