Tag Archives: millionaire club

Houston Astro Rewards Moreno ES Students for Summer Reading

School library and students with highest participation in Millionaire Club receive more than 3,000 books

Houston Astros catcher Jason Castro and his wife, Maris, pose with prize winners after handing out books and prizes to students at Moreno ES for their participation in the Millionaire Club summer reading program, September 12, 2013.

Students at Moreno Elementary were treated to a special visit from Houston Astros player Jason Castro on September 11. Nearly 300 students not only got to visit with the major-league ball player but also received a bag of four books to add to their home library. Moreno ES had the district’s highest participation in the Millionaire Club summer-reading program. Castro not only congratulated the students but talked about his love of reading and why he and his wife Maris started Castro’s Kids, which encourages children to embrace literacy.

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Millionaire Club Spotlight: What Are You Reading This Summer?

HISD’s Millionaire Club is a literacy initiative designed to encourage students to read for pleasure during the summer months. Each week, we’ll catch up with one HISD librarian to find out what’s on his or her reading list. This week, we spoke with Cindy Dinneen, a librarian at Johnston Middle School.

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Millionaire Club Spotlight: What Are You Reading This Summer?

HISD’s Millionaire Club is a literacy initiative designed to encourage students to read for pleasure during the summer months. Each week, we’ll catch up with one HISD librarian to find out what’s on his or her reading list. This week, we spoke with Jo Reed, the librarian at Scroggins Elementary School.

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Millionaire Club Spotlight: What Are You Reading This Summer?

Jack Yates HS librarian Velda Hunter

HISD’s Millionaire Club is a literacy initiative designed to encourage students to read for pleasure during the summer months. Each week, we’ll catch up with one HISD librarian to find out what’s on his or her reading list. This week, we spoke with Velda Hunter, a librarian at Jack Yates High School.

What are you reading right now? What attracted you to those selections?

I never read just one or two books at a time. I am reading a variety of good reads, including high school Name That Book selections. Mystery is my favorite genre, so the mystery-thriller Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn is one of the first I chose from the new Name That Book list.

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Millionaire Club Spotlight: What Are You Reading This Summer?

HISD’s Millionaire Club is a literacy initiative designed to encourage students to read for pleasure during the summer months. Each week, we’ll catch up with one HISD librarian to find out what’s on his or her reading list. This week, we spoke with Rowena Verdin, a librarian at Milby High School.

What are you reading right now?

I just finished reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth and I started The Dog Stars by Peter Heller.

Insurgent is actually the second book in the series by Veronica Roth. The first book, Divergent, was in last year’s Name That Book list. I enjoyed the first book; it’s like Hunger Games. Plus, I really like dystopian novels, so I just had to read the second book. The third book is supposed to come out in October.

Dog Stars is on the Name That Book (NTB) list.

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Millionaire Club Spotlight: What Are You Reading This Summer?

HISD’s Millionaire Club is a literacy initiative designed to encourage students to read for pleasure during the summer months. Each week, we’ll catch up with one HISD librarian to find out what’s on his or her reading list. This week, we spoke with Pat Johnson, a librarian at Stevenson Middle School.

So, what are you reading right now?

I’m reading all the books from the “Name That Book” contest to get clues.

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Millionaire Club Spotlight: What Are You Reading This Summer?

Browning ES librarian Danielle Norris reads The One and Only Ivan, written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by Castelao.

Browning ES librarian Danielle Norris reads The One and Only Ivan, written by Katherine Applegate and illustrated by Castelao.

HISD’s Millionaire Club is a literacy initiative designed to encourage students to read for pleasure during the summer months. Each week, we’ll catch up with one HISD librarian to find out what’s on his or her reading list. This week, we spoke with Danielle Norris, a librarian at Browning Elementary School.

So, what are you reading right now?

Right now, I’m reading all of the Bluebonnet Books (recently released titles written by American citizens).

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Students stock up on reading materials to combat the ‘summer slide’

School’s out for the summer, and that means no more pencils and no more books. But wait—there are books. For the second year in a row, Half Price Books has donated 5,000 books to students at the Wharton K–8 Academy so they can take part in the district’s Millionaire Club.

The Millionaire Club is a coordinated effort between HISD’s Library Services and Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment departments to keep kids reading over the summer break in order to combat the “summer slide,” or the loss of academic skills many students experience after three months of inactivity. If a student reads and records five books on a log, then they become a member of the club and are eligible for recognition and prizes when they return to school in the fall.

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Club encourages students to read over summer break

Herrera ES students choose books to read this summer

Most Houston Independent School District students will be spending their summer vacation having fun and doing things to get ready for the upcoming school year, including reading a few good books.

Students in all grades are participating in the Millionaire Club, a summer reading program that the district developed five years ago.

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