Kindergarteners through third grade Clearview Elementary students who were top readers in round three of the PAKRAT (Parents and Kids Reading a lot Together) program were celebrated in a special parade through the halls of the school Tuesday afternoon. 

 

The PAKRAT program is a 742 district-wide initiative to promote literacy outside of school by providing books for students in grades K-3 to bring home each week Monday through Thursday. Students read the books with their families and then return them, along with the brief worksheet about the book, to their teacher the next day.

 

PAKRAT rounds last six weeks, and at the end of each three classes with the highest participation are awarded Gold Star Awards. 

 

Individual students who read 30 books are awarded bronze stars, students reading 40 books are awarded silver stars, and students who read 50 or more books are awarded gold stars. Around 120 students participated in the recent parade.

 

Mrs. Lembeck’s class read the most books during round three and was awarded first place. Profesora Marita’s class won second place, and Mrs. Tschida’s class won third.

 

A total of 2,801 PAKRAT books were read this round. To date, Clearview students have read a grand total of 8,722 books. 

 

The Local Education & Activities Foundation (LEAF) has been supporting the PAKRAT program in partnership with District 742 elementary schools since 2011. The program is funded with LEAD grants and grants given to LEAF from the Bernick’s Foundation, the Morgan Family Foundation and the Otto Bremer Foundation.