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		Past Extra Credits April 21 All issues

Secretary of Education Rod Paige was in Pittsburgh yesterday to announce the No Child Left Behind Summer Reading Achievers Program for Pittsburgh Public Schools. The following is an article from today's Pittsburgh Tribune-Review highlighting the announcement:

Bronson Przybilinkski, 11, has always prided himself on how much he reads. The fifth-grader from Spring Hill Elementary School said he reads "all sorts of books." Mysteries and adventures are his favorites. By his count, Bronson has finished 15 books since the start of the school year.

Now school officials in Pittsburgh and nationwide are going to encourage more students to follow Bronson's example—to count the number of books they read this summer. U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige on Wednesday announced the Summer Reading Achievers Program at Spring Hill School.

As a part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, the new program encourages students in kindergarten through eighth grade to read 10 books during the summer and write brief book reports. Students who complete the program will win prizes and certificates. Schools with the highest percentage of participating students will receive special recognition. All schools in South Dakota and 10 other districts nationwide, including Pittsburgh, were chosen to launch the program this summer. The districts will receive reading materials from the Education Department.

Pittsburgh Public Schools teachers are excited about the program, which Paige hopes will help students retain what they've learned during the school year. "With reading you have to continue to practice it," said Darleen Oparanozie, a reading coach for third-, fourth- and fifth-graders at various city schools. "(The students) have to keep building upon it and building upon it."

Oparanozie said her students often stumble on words and read more slowly when they return from summer vacation. She hopes her students will be motivated to pick up a book without having to be goaded.

She might well be talking about Spring Hill fifth-grader Allon Thornton. Allon said his mother sometimes rewards him with a movie or $5 for his diligence, but he knows there's a much more important payoff. "She tells me to read a lot of books so that I can get a good education," he said.

This article is available online at: http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/
trib/pittsburgh/s_190578.html