Some of the participants of the 2014 Winners Read Readers Win competition at FLPS. Students read 893 books over five weeks. Photo: Harney's

Star Reader Shameena Singh & Principal Deborah James of FLPS at the Winners Read Readers Win prize giving ceremony held on June 6th 2014 . Miss Singh was the top reader with a total of 40 books read in five weeks. Photo: Harney's

Ninety-three students took up the reading challenge this year and collectively read 893 age-appropriate books, more than twice the 320 read during last year’s contest. The stand-out reader of the contest was Class 5 student Shameena Singh, age 11, who read a total of 40 books.  “I read 25 books last year and I was determined to improve on my old record,” Miss Singh said.

Participants were recognised at a prize-giving ceremony hosted by Harneys at the East End/ Long Look Community Center on Friday, 6 June.

“The purpose of this contest is to encourage students to read for fun and pleasure. Harneys is absolutely thrilled by the level of participation in this year’s reading contest and we congratulate all the student readers as well as Principal Mrs Deborah James and the teachers of FLPS on their success,” said Harneys Marketing Manager Mrs. Shonda Leacock, who coordinated the competition.

The Winners Read and Readers Win contest was launched on 28 April. It challenged students to read at least 10 age-appropriate fiction or non-fiction books within a five-week period.  Students were required to complete a book report for each book read, and these reports were reviewed by their classroom teacher.

Top readers in each grade were were:  Arison Penn (Stage 2 – 11 books), Dalecia Frett (Class 1 – 22 books),  Ashleigh Penn (Class 2- 26 Books),  Matai Frett (Class 3 – 12 books), Renesha Stephen (Class 4 – 21 books) and Shameena Singh (Class 5 – 40 books).

All 93 student readers received a prize for participation and each student who read 10 or more books won an additional prize. The Panthers were also recognised as the house which read more books than any other.

The prize-giving ceremony last Friday also included reading corners by Ayana Hull and Susanna Henighan Potter of Harneys, and a play by the FLPS Drama Club.

Harneys began sponsoring Francis Lettsome Primary School in 2004 and has over the past 10 years has made improvements to the school facilities, purchased playground equipment, sponsored enrichment activities, and volunteered at school events. In 2013 the firm partnered with the Ministry of Education to open a computer lab at FLPS and purchased over 3,000 books for the school library.

Supporting education and youth programmes is at the heart of Harneys’ CSR activities. The firm believes that investing in young people is the cornerstone of building a strong future for the British Virgin Islands.

Please visit our website for photos of the event: http://www.harneys.com/news/csr-news/flps-students-read-893-books-in-third-annual-reading-competition.