Chattanooga, Tenn. (May 14, 2021) - Between Feb. 1 and April 30, more than 1,200 students, teachers and librarians completed the Hamilton County Schools’ HCS Reading Challenge.
This reading initiative, which is sponsored by the district’s librarians, challenges Hamilton County Schools students and staff to read as many books as possible in 33 different categories over a three-month period. In total, 1,779 books were logged in the challenge, and nine individuals read books in all 33 categories. Sale Creek Middle High School and Hunter Middle School had the most participants per school.
Haylee Speller of Sale Creek Middle High was the top reader as was awarded a $50 gift card and an “I Am Hamilton” shirt today by district officials.
“The HCS Reading Challenge is an excellent way to motivate our students and staff to engage in reading,” said Breckan Duckworth, literacy officer for HCS. “Our amazing students took the challenge a step further by using virtual learning tools to engage in book discussions, and have even requested a similar reading challenge for the summer.”
The top readers for this year’s challenge are:
Haylee Speller – Sale Creek M/HS
Jaime Bloodworth - East Ridge HS
Lilliana Henry - Ooltewah HS
Emily Hurst - Soddy Daisy HS
Beatriz Laranjeira – Hunter MS
Janet Pelfrey - Soddy Daisy MS
Emily Sanchez - - Ooltewah MS
Anna Hutcherson - Soddy Daisy MS
Addison Ritchey – Hunter MS
Jami Thomason - Hunter MS
Catherine Leckenby - Center for Creative Arts
Caiden Williams - Hunter MS
Aimen Shahbaz - Red Bank HS
Marley Slasor - Soddy Daisy HS
Hailey Huckabee - Hunter MS
Aleena Shahbaz - Red Bank HS