Reading Across the Programs: Reading Incentives
Middle & High School Students Encouraged to Read for Enjoyment Through Reading Incentives
The Elkhorn Public Schools Foundation has established programs such as Classroom Grants, Math & Reading Intervention, Tuition Reimbursement, and the Kids in Need Fund. In addition to those programs, the Foundation also will help as needs arise. For the last couple of years, the Foundation has been providing funds for prizes for reading incentive programs at the middle and high schools, and this year the Foundation decided to increase the funding of the reading incentives at the middle and high schools.
In middle and high school, students begin to read for enjoyment less and less. Kelsey Orr-Stevinson, Elkhorn South High School Media Specialist, has observed “many of our students already identify as readers, while others feel like they have let that part of their identity fade as they get older. Some students feel like they don’t have time for reading, while others might have a hard time finding a book that is right for them.”
Kelsey’s anecdotal evidence aligns with current research. The National Literacy Trust conducts the Annual Literacy Survey to gauge children and young people’s opinions on reading for fun. According to the 2024 results, of the 76,000 respondents surveyed only “34.6% of children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoyed reading in their free time. Reading enjoyment levels have decreased by 8.8 percentage points over the past year alone.” In an effort to increase recreational reading, minimize screen time, and combat reading apathy, the middle and high school media specialists began expanding their reading incentive programs with funding assistance from the Foundation.
At Elkhorn North High School, each student is offered a graphic organizer with various reading prompts. Jessica Ethridge, ENHS Media Specialist, explains, “After completing a book category from the graphic organizer, students ‘book talk’ with the media specialist who then signs off on their work and enters them into raffles, which include candy and gift cards that the Foundation graciously provided.” Additionally, all participants receive a “Chip Chip HOORAY” certificate redeemable for a bag of chips for participating.
The reading challenge at Elkhorn South High School, organized by ESHS Media Specialist Kelsey Orr-Stevinson, is called “Reading Up A Storm.” Similar to the challenge at ENHS, students choose and read books that align with fun categories on a reading choice board. After completing a prompt, the students are entered into a raffle for prizes which are funded by the Foundation. Kelsey estimates that roughly 200 students participate each semester.
Leigh Geis, Elkhorn High School Media Specialist, has used the choice board in previous years, but she wanted to try something different this year. In an effort to make the discussions about books more organic, Leigh hosts a monthly themed book discussion similar to a book club. The students begin discussing books that match the theme, and similar to the other high schools, once a student demonstrates they read a book, their name goes into the raffle for candy, coffee cards, or school apparel. The conversation, she notes, often ends up being more about what everyone is currently reading than the theme. This discussion-based format is great because students are talking about books and recommending them to one another.
Collectively, the media specialists at the high schools agree that reading for enjoyment is beneficial for so many reasons. Kelsey states, “Reading for pleasure has a myriad of benefits for teens, including lowering stress, improving overall mental health, increasing empathy, and developing language skills that are important for academic success.”
Through the reading challenges, the high schools are creating a community of readers. Kelsey has seen students “recommend books to each other, form mini book clubs, read outside their comfort zone, and discover new authors and genres they love.”
At the middle school level, students were encouraged to read books on the Golden Sower list. A committee of Nebraska teachers and library staff nominate books for this award, then the winners of each category are chosen by students who read the books. EPS students who read a certain number of Golden Sower books receive a prize. But, the middle school media specialists wanted to provide more opportunities to read for fun.
Lise Wagner, media specialist at Elkhorn Middle School, and the other middle school media specialists were approached by an EPS administrator last year to brainstorm opportunities to encourage reading in the middle schools. This push aligned with the overall goal of encouraging students to disconnect from their phones and devices.
Starting last school year and continuing this year, the middle school media specialists launched a reading incentive program for the second and fourth quarter where students read books based on prompts on a choice boards. This idea is loosely based on the reading choice board offered at the high schools. After reading three books, the middle school students get to participate in a fun culminating activity, which is cookies and cocoa for second quarter and an ice cream party for fourth quarter. If a student completes the full choice board, they receive a larger prize.
One motivator for media specialists, Lise said, “is to remind students that we can just read for fun. Reading is a joyful thing, and we just want students to get into books and try them.”
The Foundation has been providing funding for both middle school and high school reading incentive programs. Due to the success of these programs and overall mission to decrease screen time, this fall the Foundation increased the funding for the reading incentive programs.
The high school media specialists are still brainstorming ways to use the new funds, but they will increase the number of prizes awarded for participating in the reading challenge. Other ideas include larger prizes, hosting a breakfast halfway through the challenge for participants, ordering a book for participants, an evening read-a-thon, or other library experiences.
Lise nicely summarizes the reactions from media specialists at both levels: “The biggest thing is that [the extra funds have] given us permission to think of big ideas with the opportunity to impact all kinds of kids. We feel so supported in the goals that we have about pleasure reading and just getting kids to be in this environment that I think is so beneficial.”