THOUSAND OAKS : Students Earn Cash for School in Read-a-Thon

It pays to read. That was the lesson students at Park Oaks Elementary School in Thousand Oaks learned this month.

“If you wish upon a star, reading will take you very far,” was the slogan of the school’s first read-a-thon, which raised more than $6,700 to buy new equipment and supplies for Park Oaks.

But the students were also provided with an incentive to read, said Principal Rachelle Morga.

Students who read the most during the month of May were rewarded with gifts donated by 35 local businesses. These included a mountain bike, two $100 gift certificates to The Oaks mall, four Disneyland tickets and a karate uniform along with free karate lessons.

The read-a-thon was sponsored by Park Oaks’ Parent Teacher Assn. Morga said that parents, friends and relatives pledged money for each page read by each of the school’s 640 students.

To support the students, Morga said Park Oaks invited parents to participate in read-ins with their children after school.

“It was a win-win-win situation for everybody,” Morga said. “The students win because they improved their reading skills. The parents win because the kids spent quality time with them reading after school. And the school wins because we’re getting new technology equipment.”

The seven grand prize winners from each grade got an extra treat Thursday. They were taken to Round Table Pizza by limousine.

The winners included kindergartner Douglas Rowe; first-grader Miriam Navarro; second-grader Brent Bedford; third-grader Lindsey Stokka; fourth-grader Heather Dillon; fifth-grader Lindsey Zane; and sixth-grader June Butler.

Morga said the school plans to hold another read-a-thon next year.