By ELIZABETH BEAMER
CHEROKEE MIDDLE
This school year, all staff and students at Cherokee Middle School have been committed to improving reading. Since January, students have a designated reading time between 9:27-10:13am.
Cherokee Middle School students tour the WCU men's basketball locker room during a recent visit to the campus. (Photo courtesy of Elizabeth Beamer/CMS)
One program that we have participated in this year is called Tickets to Reading Rewards. This program is sponsored by the NABC (National Association of Basketball Coaches), and encourages students to read outside the classroom for incentive rewards.
WCU Coach Larry Hunter and three WCU players came to the school in November and spoke to all CMS students about the importance of reading. We then had a reading challenge that lasted from Nov. 2 – Dec. 23, 2011. Students had to read four books, and pass an AR test. We had 22 students that completed this challenge.
On Feb. 4, 2012, 17 students from CMS attended the WCU men’s basketball game including: Toby Brady, Christina Littlejohn, Cade Carroll, Lou Montelongo, Davis Littlejohn, Anthony Toineeta, Noah Pete, Kendra Panther, Shaderick Wolfe, Dawson Wilnoty, Jacob Smith, Eason Esquivel, William Paul, Ayla Cruz, Scarlett Guy, Kendall Driver, and Andrew Griffin.
Students were shown the locker room and auxiliary gym, they had a taste of college food at the cafeteria, and the highlight was the basketball game. This was a great reading incentive that served two purposes; the first to promote a lifelong love of reading, and the second to expose them to a college setting.
“All our students have worked very hard this year, and we are very proud of all Cherokee Middle School Students!” said CMS officials.
