Three-peat! Saint John the Baptist students recognized for their reading

Intermountain Catholic

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St. John the Baptist students read a book with Al Jefferson, center for the Utah Jazz. IC Photo Laura Vallejo

DRAPER — Five hundred fifty students in 19 classrooms at Saint John the Baptist Elementary School plus 816,948 minutes of reading time in one month added up to one Utah Jazz player visit to the school.

In addition, fourth-grader Timothy McElaney was named the top reader and won a seat behind the Utah Jazz players’ bench as Coach for a Game, a photo with Head Coach Tyrone Corbin, four tickets to a game, and a dinner for his family at the Jazz 100 Club.

The prizes were the result of SJB students in kindergarten through fifth grade winning the Utah Jazz Reading Contest ‘Be a Team Player - Read!’

This is the third year in a row that SJB has won the annual reading contest, said Bob Mutz, the school’s director of advancement. The contest is sponsored by the Utah Jazz, Scholastic Book Fairs, Russell’s Ice Cream and Stores Online. All Utah schools are invited to participate.

During the contest, a weekly reading log was sent home with each SJB student. At the end of the four weeks, the Utah Jazz and Scholastic Book Fairs compiled each school’s score by dividing the total number of minutes read with the school’s enrollment. The top 10 schools with the highest average minutes-read-per-student had a Jazz player visit the school and read to the students. In addition, the top 10 schools earned an ice cream party from Russell’s Ice Cream.

Utah Jazz center Al Jefferson visited the St. John the Baptist gymnasium on March 1, creating excitement among the parents, faculty, visitors and students as the 6’10" player from Mississippi entered.

"We want the kids to read more and at the same time to have fun," said Patti Ball, Utah Jazz public relations director.

"It’s pretty nice," Mutz said. "This is a real easy way to increase the kids’ reading skills. They really get excited about it. It’s an educational but fun way for the kids."

Each year, teachers give individual reading goals to each classroom and tailor them to each student.

"They do a really good job. Even the little kids are involved," said Mutz.