DUBOIS COUNTY (WEHT) – March Madness is still more than a month away but some third-grade students will start competing next week. The “Read to the Final Four” tipped off Monday and two Dubois County schools are taking part. Students at Holy Trinity Catholic in Jasper are among the 68 schools across Indiana who logged the most reading minutes since November.
The 68 teams are seeded in four regions named after Indiana basketball legends, one of them includes Evansville native Calbert Cheaney. The classes that log the most reading minutes advance. School leaders in Dubois County say this is a way to help enhance lifelong learning.
“It’s a lot of nonfiction books so they are learning so much on. Maybe they don’t like usually like sports books but because they have it on there maybe they are going to start reading about different topics so I feel like long-term it’s awesome,” said Kyla Thomas, a third-grade teacher at Holy Trinity.
Students in Northeast Dubois Elementary School are also part of the final 68. The top four readers of the tournament will receive new bicycles and helmets.
(This story was originally published on February 1, 2021)