Company Hard Work and Commitment Earn DC Student February's "Star of the Month" Award
Congratulations to Kenyon Scott of Washington, DC, for winning the Read Naturally Star of the Month Award for February! Kenyon made great gains using the Read Naturally program in 2009 and is continuing his hard work in 2010.
KIPP DC: AIM Academy in Washington, DC, will receive a $200 gift certificate for Read Naturally materials, and Kenyon will be awarded a $20 Barnes and Noble gift card for his own use.
Read the Winning Entry
Here’s what Kenyon’s teacher, Aaron Cahn, wrote in nominating him for Star of the Month:
"I coordinate the Read Naturally program at KIPP DC: AIM Academy. We are a public charter school in Southeast Washington, DC. Our students are all preparing for college through a rigorous academic program that has them at school from 8–5 every other Saturday and three weeks in the summer.
"This summer Kenyon Scott joined our team and family as an eighth grader. As summer school went on, it became clear that Kenyon was behind in reading.
"As the new year started, it became very apparent that Kenyon was not behind because of laziness or lack of commitment, but the unfortunate fact was that no one had taken the time to help him learn to read. So on the first day of school, he began a rigorous schedule of reading remediation. On a regular day, Kenyon goes to an hour and a half of reading class, does an hour and a half of phonics remediation, one to two hours of guided reading, an hour of nonfiction reading, and an hour of Read Naturally, while still managing to complete the necessary requirements of the seventh grade curriculum, which includes pre-algebra. He has done all of this while maintaining over a 2.5 GPA, which is no simple task for any student at our school.
"He is so committed to catching up to his peers by the end of the year that he is a constant inspiration to his peers and teachers. He has already completed one and a half levels of his phonics remediation program (WILSON) and, in two months in the program and through pure commitment and focus to the program, he has gone from 1.0 to 2.6 on Read Naturally, because he wants to be challenged. Six weeks later, Kenyon moved to level 3.5, and he even brought Read Naturally materials home for additional practice.
"When he comes into class, he immediately takes out his Read Naturally folder and gets started. He usually gets 40–60 word cold scores, but he always gets over 100 word hot scores, typically with 0 mistakes. For most people that would be enough in one period, but not for Kenyon. Whereas most students start doing their homework when they finish a story, Kenyon immediately begins listening to his key words and writing his next prediction. In the four days I see him each week, he typically gets through six stories!
"I can think of no student that deserves more to be honored for his hard work and commitment to reading and the Read Naturally program than Kenyon Scott."
Nominate One of Your Students
To nominate one of your students for next month's award, please send his/her story to newsletter@readnaturally.com. Include a picture of the student and any relevant details to help us understand the great progress s/he has made. To be eligible, the student’s parent or guardian must sign and return a release form.
