Reading Makes A Difference™

“A number of teachers mentioned that because scholars were able to choose their own books, they were much more engaged,” noted Community Schools Teacher on Special Assignment (TOSA) John Burke. “I LOVED The Jester & Pharley Read-A-Thon”

Like other teachers and administrators, he was delighted to see Koalas’ hunger for reading grow daily.

Introduced to The Jester Has Lost His Jingle and the Reading Makes A Difference program by Phund Executive Director Amy Hastings at the initial assembly, students became inspired to read to give Jester books and dolls to local clinic patients.

“My students found value from learning about the program through the assembly,” noted fifth-grade teacher Fanika Cortez. “Students were eagerly waiting for me to collect their reading logs because they wanted to show me how much they had read.”

Hawthorne Superintendent of Schools Dr. Brian Markarian joined Principal Sophia Vuong in congratulating young readers on their accomplishments at Capstone Awards Assemblies. The school’s top reader, fifth grader Aaron Andrade, read 6,227 pages, while Cristina Hernandez’ fifth graders took top classroom honors by reading 24,248 pages.

Teachers eagerly endorsed the program and their students’ achievements, looking forward to challenging them to read even more in their next Jester Read-A-Thon.