COLUMBIANA Reading frenzy enthralls pupils at Joshua Dixon

Kindergarten and first-graders get credit for books read to them.
COLUMBIANA -- Joshua Dixon Elementary pupils are reading books at a furious pace.
Natalie Hromiko, librarian, said the kindergarten through fourth-grade pupils have read thousands of books since the beginning of the school year for the Ohio Bicentennial Book-a-thon, a reading contest based on Ohio's 200th birthday.
There's no set goal for the contest. It is simply to see how many books the elementary pupils can read in a given period, she said.
"The children are really reading," she said. "We've had a lot of reading contests here, but I've never seen the students read like this."
The grand prize goes to the class that read the most books. The prize is watching a movie in the library, and receiving bicentennial T-shirts, key chains and pencils.
The winning class at each grade level also will receive the same prize, minus the T-shirts. All other pupils who participate will receive bicentennial pencils, Hromiko said.
Hromiko will tally the total books read the end of the day today. At an assembly Monday, the winners will be announced.
Pupils fill out a form for each book read and must include a description of what the book is about as proof the pupil read the book, Hromiko said.
Kindergarten and first-grade pupils receive credit for books read to them.
Hromiko said there is a fierce competition between pupils in the first- and second-grades.
The pupils are allowed to read two fictions books and the rest must be nonfiction, she said.