Read Naturally's October Star of the Month is Danielle E. from Durham, NH. Danielle is a sophomore student at Oyster River High School, where she works with her teacher, Ms. Jennifer McGuinness, in Read Live. Ms. McGuinness nominated Danielle for the strength she has shown in facing her struggles with reading. Here is what Ms. McGuinness shared with us about Danielle's incredible success:

Danielle's previous teachers urged me not even to bother with reading fluency - she'd likely not improve and her self-esteem would only further plummet. While not wanting to to make any child feel worse about their skills, I knew denying Danielle the opportunity to improve her reading and writing skills could also be detrimental. Her previous teachers were right about her negative emotions around reading aloud and demonstrating comprehension, as in the beginning of reading services she cried when she had to read again or re-work a quiz question. Yet, she was encouraged to see mistakes as opportunities for learning and was guided to see past the tears to allow herself the chance to grow her skills in a safe environment. Today she is a star Read Live student who makes fewer mistakes and corrects them with out tears, has worked hard to become a more fluent and expressive reader, has improved her comprehension, readily and skillfully uses the text to support her answers, and has expanded her knowledge about the world immensely. She is so happy to share her reading accomplishments with others! I praise her for her strength, courage, and diligence to see through her fear of failure and significantly improve her reading skills.

The Read Naturally Star Student of the Month program is designed to celebrate students who work hard to improve their reading skills using Read Naturally's intervention programs. Each month, we select one student to feature in our newsletter. The selected student wins a $50 Barnes & Noble gift card, and the school or teacher who nominated the student receives a $200 gift certificate for Read Naturally materials.

To nominate your deserving student, visit the entry form.