Scholastic Readers Cup 2014 Recognizes Educators

Scholastic Inc. , the book publishing company behind many of the famous titles like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games, is set to honor literacy educators in the Philippines for outstanding work in improving literacy in their respective schools. This will be done through the Scholastic Readers Cup 2014, an inter-school literacy contest among more than 100 schools participating in Scholastic’s literacy programs. This contest is poised to become one of the premiere literacy awards in the country.

Scholastic Corporation

Scholastic is especially known for its children’s books and educational publications. It is quite interesting to know that its very first publication was a collection of student writings entitled Saplings. These students were winners of the Scholastic Writing Awards.

It is very clear that even then, Scholastic was serious in providing recognition to those who deserved it. The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards have recognized millions of young artists and writers and gave millions as well in awards and scholarships. It has also been instrumental in discovering some of the remarkable minds of the modern times. Now, it’s about time to recognize educators who are the tireless partners in educating the young.

Scholastic Readers Cup 2014

The Readers Cup is Scholastic’s way of paying homage to the noble educators who are shaping the future of students by improving their reading skills through AEP. Scholastic presently has two literacy programs namely the Assessment and Enrichment Program (AEP) and the Independent Reading Program (IRP). AEP and IRP are end-to-end literacy solution programs which schools can subscribe to. These programs aim to produce remarkable and measurable improvements in students’ reading abilities.

Literacy educators include not only teachers but also librarians, principals, and the schools as well. Scholastic and its school partners share the passion of teaching students to read well and meaningfully. The Scholastic Readers Cup will award the top three schools in varying categories including “Highest Increase in Total Number of Books Read per school”, “Highest Average number of Books Read per Child”, “Highest Average Lexile Growth per student” and the “Highest Average Number of Books Read per Student”.

Program Experience

Let’s hear from those who actually had the opportunity to use the program.

Father Miguel Samaniego, School Head of St. Thomas Academy in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, commented on AEP’s impact in their school, “We have seen significant changes in our kids. Since they have been reading more books, they have a wider vocabulary and better comprehension skills. Their communication skills have improved too. They now appreciate that reading is enjoyable.”

Father Noel B. Magtaas, President of the Oblates of St. Joseph Schools, a consortium of nine schools, also shares his experience with AEP. “When I was visiting schools before Scholastic came in, I would often visit the libraries, and I would see empty libraries. But when we enrolled with Scholastic, the love for reading became very evident among our students. Right now we have a very happy problem. We have overflowing libraries, and there is an emergent need to create more space in our libraries. We’re very happy to see a change in the lifestyle of our students.”

Readers Cup Vision

The Scholastic Readers Cup seeks to raise the bar of literacy in the Philippines and this is expected to be realized since the prestige and honor of over 100 schools nationwide are on the line. Being that as it may, it is important to remember that the real reward lies in being able to influence students to become better readers for the purpose of enabling them to lead better lives. The Readers Cup vision stands in being a tribute to the tireless teachers, librarians and principals whose work and leadership paved way for students to become better readers and learners.