Dove Elementary School

From Monday, January 9, through the end of the school year, students from Dove Elementary School are participating in a 1,500 Minute Reading Challenge. Dove staff and the school’s PTA created this challenge to encourage reading and learning at home.

For every 20 minutes that the students read, they get one step closer to earning prizes. By partnering with local businesses, students can collect surprises from Sonic, Wise Guys, the City of Grapevine and more.

“One of the best things is seeing our students get so excited and motivated to read at home to earn those awesome prizes,” said Sarah Eikenberry, Dove PTA president.

While many of the students read independently, some of the pre-k and kindergarten students still need assistance. Pre-k teacher Ms. Mcfarling said that the reading challenge is “impacting our students inside and outside the classroom” by inspiring them with incentives to learn to read.

The whole school is getting involved in the challenge and students are finding their passion for reading. Fourth grader Makena Murimi says she likes to read because her books “have a lot of entertainment and it’s a great way to relax!”

Courtney Fray-Dingemanse, a mother of a DES kindergarten student, stated, “We love reading books as a family and spending time together! Dove – and specifically Ms. Cabrillo – are teaching our daughter to love reading even when she doesn’t know all her words yet.”