Over the summer, many students were introduced to a website named Goodreads for the first time. Students were asked to read books they enjoyed and write reviews on those books for the English department’s summer assignment. Thus, the term and Goodreads group “HMSA Reads” began. In the group, students posted their reviews and viewed other reviews and recommendations. However, this website isn’t just used for mandatory assignments; it is the new AR program. Goodreads replaced the old accelerated reader program in a decision made by Ms. Jordan and the teachers of the English department. The process is simple: Students fill out the reading log, given at the start of each semester, by signing books off with the help of his or her CP teacher. Then, once students finish the book, they write a quick review on Goodreads and receive rewards based on the number of pages they read. The end of semester one proved to be successful for the new AR system. In total, HMSA students read over 600,000 pages! Students who read an astounding number of pages are considered the winners for semester one.

The winners for the past semester were placed under three categories: “Goodreads Greats,”  “Ravenous Readers,” and “All-Star Readers.” The “Goodreads Greats” were the students who wrote the most reviews. Those students were: Nadesha A., Awele A., Fabian V., LaDounia T., Daniella H., Vanessa H., Maya F., Brianna R., Lorna W., Karina S., and Sharleen B. The “Ravenous Readers” list consisted of students who read more than 1,000 pages each! As a reward, they will be given either a free dress pass or a detention word coupon. Unfortunately (or not), the number of students placed in this category was so large that I could not fit all their names here; the list was completely bombarded with students in all grade levels (To see the full list, please go to the school website and look for “HMSA Reads” under the quick links or click here). Lastly, the “All-Star Readers” category included only four students. They were the students who read the most pages out of all the students in their grade level, respectively. Each student will receive an In-N-Out lunch, along with a free dress pass or a detention word coupon. The winner for the Freshmen class was Evelyn P., who read 5,763 pages. The Sophomore winner was Jonathan D., who read 4,253 pages. The Junior who read the most pages was Sharleen B. with 4,053 pages read. Finally, the Senior winner was Viridiana R., who read 3,000 pages. Congratulations to all the winners!

In addition to the students mentioned above, there is another large category of students that will receive a reward for their achievements. There is one class that read substantially more pages than any other class collectively and won an ice cream social: the Junior class! The Juniors read 125,764 pages altogether; that averages out to over 1,000 pages per student. Great job Juniors!

Furthermore, many HMSA winners were surprised and grateful of the title given to them. Juniors were surprised that they beat all the other classes. Junior Orlando G. excitedly clapped and said “that’s so cool” when I told him he was a “ravenous reader” and that his class won the title of top reading class. The Senior winner, Viridiana R. said she was “very excited” to hear about the news. She also added that she likes the Goodreads program because it allows students to “share out your opinions and search for book titles that match your favorite genre.”

The majority of the Freshman class did not use the Goodreads website before the summer. I asked a group of Freshmen what they thought of the Goodreads program and they collectively said they liked having to read a book as an assignment. Evelyn P., the winner for the Freshmen class and the student who read the most books in HMSA, said she likes reading because it “opens [her] imagination.”

HMSA students weren’t the only ones who competed against one another; the HMSA staff competed for the title of most pages read. The teacher who read the most pages is none other than Ms. Siegler. She read a whopping 8,000 pages. According to her, she wasn’t surprised that she won the most pages read because she’s “always been a bookworm.” I also asked her when she has time to read with her busy schedule: “I make time for reading. I fill my time with [reading].” I then asked her why she loved reading books, to which she passionately replied, “Because it gives you life and they transport you to a different dimension.” She ended by simply stating, “reading makes people better humans.”

Ms. Jordan, one of the staff members who read over 1,000 pages, is the main person who administers the Goodreads program. In a short interview, she revealed that the Goodreads program is easy to manage and doesn’t require much work to verify the reading logs. I asked her what she thought of all the participants and results from semester one: “I’m really excited that so many people, including staff members, challenged themselves to read more for pleasure and learning purposes.” She added that the most shocking thing about the results was the “level of competition between the staff members.” Regarding the mandatory Goodreads assignments students completed over the summer, Ms. Jordan revealed that the Goodreads program is likely to continue for more summers to come, due to the success of the past summer. Teachers also received a lot of feedback from students about Goodreads and the AR system. Ms. Jordan said that she wants to start a “literacy committee” specifically for the Goodreads program. She added that the committee members would work to “be a representative, to explain the program, [and] give rewards to those who’ve earned them.” So, if any students are interested, please contact Ms. Jordan for more information.

All in all, it seems that students are welcoming the new AR system with open arms. Be sure to check the complete winners list either online or on the bulletin board outside of the counseling office, and see Ms. Jordan if you are one of the winners listed for your prize. These results for semester one were fantastic, but they can definitely be increased for semester two. Keep on reading HMSA!