2014 Read-A-Thon: Behind the Scenes

With the 2014 Read-A-Thon Awards Show set for next week, it seems like a good opportunity to reflect on what goes into organizing such a big event!

Preparation for the Read-A-Thon started back in November. It can be challenging to get people to step forward to organize an event like this... everyone who has ever been a volunteer knows how much work it can be. But, Jen Schoenborn, Terraset PTA Vice-President, said "I'll do it... but I'll need some help!" At about the same time, Liz Falcone was finishing up a long term assignment and, seeing the "light at the end of the tunnel", thought she would be able to help. Liz had worked with the organizing committee that first brought the Read-A-Thon to Terraset in 2010, and had an idea of what was ahead. Alison Stobie simultaneously offered her assistance having some great ideas for a theme for this year's event!

Brian Davidson

And so the 2014 Read-A-Thon was born! The newly formed committee set about pulling everything together. Brian Davidson was their first target. He had developed the online logging site at read.terrasetpta.org used in previous years. Was he willing to manage it again? Yes! The logging site is hosted by his business, Syzzle Inc., at no cost to the PTA and provides all the back-end functionality required to track and report on the Read-A-Thon progress.

Prize display

"Next we needed to get our prizes organized!" Liz remembered. Heather Thomas had helped with this before, so her name came quickly to mind. Heather's close friend and neighbor, Stephanie Randall, was added to the list. Both generously said yes and went about making a VERY skimpy budget go a long way. The big prizes for top readers and top fundraisers are not so difficult to get, but finding more than 1,750 participation prizes to distribute over the five week event  -- that don't blow the budget -- is no mean feat!

Dome Theater

Of course, the Read-A-Thon is not just a fundraiser... it is a huge community event! Alison Stobie wanted "the kids to experience something they would remember for the rest of their lives." It was time to coordinate with the PTA Assemblies Chair to enhance the edu-tainment component. Having established the "Find Your Space to Read" theme, the Dome Theater was an obvious choice. But... "Can we do it?" asked Liz. It was a full day event that required challenging scheduling to ensure every student got to participate without missing out on lunch, recess, or any of their specials! After several days of studying the school's master schedule and liaising with Kramer Entertainment, a plan developed and the Dome experience was confirmed. In addition, Mrs. Forman saw the Read-A-Thon as an excellent opportunity to arrange an author visit. Coordinating with Heather Thomas, Moira Rose Donohue and Wendy Shang were invited to inspire our tigers in the joys of writing.

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Planning the blast-off needed lots of energy! The Read-A-Thon launch assembly has featured Terraset families from the outset. The first year, the Sogandares and Rose children developed skits to announce the read-a-thon. The following year, the Goetz family -- and all six children -- entertained us with their Mad Scientist sketches. Last year, the Dueno family set out to look for their reading treasure throughout the school pursuing the pirate theme. Who would uphold the "family" tradition this year? Dion Seneca was approached, and after a little persuasion, agreed to work with her kids to launch our space theme! Mission control was pleased!

Class results as each returns from lunch

The reading started in March and the excitement began! The initial reading block was only four days, so the first round of participation prizes hit very quickly. Jennifer Hatch, Erika Pattee and Peter Crowe had all been coerced to help. "It was not hard to convince them" Liz offered "so many Terraset parents are willing to help when they are asked!" Every Friday this team showed up at school to distribute prizes to the 230 or so students who submitted their reading log that week. Soon, the team members became the most popular people in school as the kids looked forward to their little prizes.

One of the great features of this year's Read-A-Thon was the resident Alien. Each day during March it would hide somewhere in the school. The custodians were roped into helping with this, and Mrs. Jenkins happily agreed to distribute the prize coupons to students who found the Alien each day. "Where's the Alien?" became the most frequent greeting offered to Liz Falcone for several weeks she said.

And so the month continued... WTER promotions, press releases, reporting minutes, promoting sponsorship, collecting sponsorship..."I don't know how many times I needed to check that sponsorship total!' Jen Schoenborn exclaimed.  But, it all lead to a FANTASTIC outcome. While we can't announce the results just yet (the Awards Show will be on April 21st) we can tell you that:

• 100% of Terraset students participated
• Over 200 parents, grandparents and staff participated
• We read over 1.4 million minutes
• More than 100 students collected sponsorship

What a juggernaut! This event is one of the biggest undertaken by the Terraset PTA each year. But, it's worth it... we hope!