Dec. 1, 2008

South Carolina women’s basketball has begun planning its “Read with the Gamecocks” Program. In its tenth year, the program is an initiative to promote reading in elementary school children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Due to the success of last year’s program, in which 35 elementary schools in Richland and Lexington Counties participated and close to 3,500 students read 1.2 million pages, South Carolina has extended the invitation to all elementary schools in the state of South Carolina.

The program runs from December 19, 2008 through January 2, 2009. Each participant keeps track of his/her reading with his/her parents or guardians during the holiday break. At the end of the break, participants submit their results to their teachers, who then record the results and add them to the school’s total. A winner will be chosen from each school, and the overall winner from each grade will be recognized in the Dawn Staley Reading Heroes comic book.

All students who participate in the program will receive a ticket to the Reading Day celebration game, which will be the South Carolina vs. Alabama game on February 15, 2009. Each student that attends that game will receive a copy of the Reading Heroes comic book. The overall winning readers and overall winning school will be recognized at halftime.

For information on how your student can participate please email Chanel Thomas at thomasp@mailbox.sc.edu.

Participating South Carolina Elementary Schools
Bethune Elementary, Bethune
Ebenezer Avenue Elementary, Rock Hill
Minnie Hughes Elementary, Youngs Island