Written by Isaac Windes, San Antonio Report, October 20, 2024
Hundreds of third graders chanted with glee as the Spurs Coyote bounded across the stage of the Magik Theatre downtown Thursday morning, kicking off a regional reading challenge ahead of the return of the NCAA Final Four games to San Antonio next year.
The students wore matching blue shirts and came from 20 school districts, including private and charter schools. They gathered with teachers and district superintendents, cheering as they heard from community leaders about the importance of reading.
More than 26,000 students from across the region are projected to participate in Read to the Final Four, a “bracket-style challenge” to see which classrooms can read the most minutes starting Nov. 4,leading to the NCAA Men’s Final Four in April.
Along the way, students can win free books and swag, and the top four classes will be invited to Reese’s Final Four Friday. The winning school will get a $5,000 library makeover. Herff Middle School in the San Antonio Independent School District won the challenge in 2021.
The Read to the Final Four challenge has been traveling to the host sites for the Final Four games since it began in Houston in 2016, with San Antonio’s showing this year slated to be the largest ever.
City Councilwoman Sukh Kaur (D1) put on her teacher hat, asking students for “all eyes up here, ears open, mouth closed, unless we’re doing a chant,” effectively silencing the auditorium of antsy elementary schoolers in a matter of seconds.
“This is so much more fun than the City Council where I just came from,” she said as students munched on popcorn.
She spoke about why it is important to know how to read, including in her position as an elected official.
“It’s so important to be able to read all of the notes that come to us,” she said. “If you want to be a leader in the community at City Council, you have to read all the notes and be prepared for meetings.
Reading is also crucial for succeeding in sports, she added, including basketball, which Kaur played growing up.
“As a basketball player, you have to be able to read plays,” she said.
The NCAA challenge is particularly relevant for San Antonio, which finds itself behind other major cities across the state when it comes to reading rates, which are critical to all other areas of academic success.
In a report released earlier this year and presented to the City Council this week, the nonprofit City Education Partners called for city leaders to do more, pointing to the 46% percent of students currently reading on grade level.
Challenges like Read to the Final Four help challenge students to read more while also adding an element of fun, organizers say.
In the spirit of inclusivity, the challenge this year will also allow students to chart a variety of activities for reading minutes after organizers worked with the local nonprofit Celebrate Dyslexia to get all students reading.
“By incorporating audiobooks, graphic novels and paired reading, we’ve made it possible for all students to fully engage in the challenge like never before,” said Jasmin Dean, the founder and CEO of Celebrate Dyslexia. “With dyslexic students —diagnosed or not — making up 20% of San Antonio’s student population, this partnership is especially impactful.”
In between speakers, students repeated a chant in unison.
“Readers are leaders.”
