Sarah Collier, a seventh-grade student at Harpeth Middle School, has been named the middle school division winner of an annual state contest that encourages students across the Volunteer State to read during the summer break.
Sarah, who logged the most hours over the course of the summer in her age group, earned a $1,000 college scholarship.
Tennesseans for Student Success and Tristar Reads recognized Sarah Tuesday, Oct. 29 for achieving this great accomplishment.
Sarah, the daughter of Jamey and Velvet Collier of Pegram, read 22,955 minutes.
This marks the second time that Sarah has won her age division. She was the elementary school division winner in 2017.
“894 students logged over 500,000 minutes reading books this summer,” said Tennesseans for Student Success President and CEO Adam Lister. “When we launched this program, our goal was to keep Tennessee’s students reading and mitigate the summer slide.”
Lister continued: “From our recent 2019 TNReady results, we know there is a continued need to emphasize literacy at every grade level and in every classroom – especially elementary and middle school students. Programs like Tristar Reads are one of the tools to incentivize reading throughout the year, and we are proud to have a hand in student growth.”
Running from May 1 to Sept. 7, Tristar Reads was birthed out of the goal to keep Tennessee’s students reading during the summer months.
When students read 20 minutes a day during their summer vacations, they are more likely to return to school ready for success in their next grade.
In its fourth year, almost 900 students logged their reading time, reading over 500,000 minutes this summer, and participating in the summer reading challenge.