Helios Education Foundation: How Local Supporters Contribute to Hosting Successful Events!

By Joey Johnston

March Madness tipped off in full form on March 16, when the 68-team field was selected for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

But for Tampa Bay area’s school children, the March Madness began much earlier with the Read to the Final Four Literacy program, presented by the Helios Education Foundation. It’s a reading challenge that’s designed to engage elementary school students.

“Helios believes that all students should have the opportunity to access and succeed in post-secondary education,’’ Helios senior vice president for community engagement Stacy Baier said. “But we know to do that, we can’t just start investing at the point when kids are enrolling in college.

“We really need to be thinking about the entire education continuum — and one of those key areas for us is third-grade reading proficiency. We know that students who are reading on grade level by the end of the third grade are more likely to continue on a track that prepares them post-secondary education.’’

This season’s reading challenge began Jan. 21 with two-week reading competitions by grade. The first quarter (Jan. 21 through Feb. 4) included pre-kindergarten and kindergarten. The second quarter (Feb. 5-18) included first and second grade. The third quarter (Feb. 19 through March 3) included fourth and fifth grade.

It culminated with the fourth quarter (March 4-21), a special three-week March Madness-style competition for the third graders, just when the action reached a fever pitch for the nation’s women’s basketball teams.

Individual students, classes and schools earned prizes based on the number of minutes read. A personalized reading library tracked reading time through myOn’s digital library, which includes thousands of enhanced and age-appropriate titles.

More than 91,000 students (across 150 schools) participated in the program. Students earned prizes, such as pizza parties, meet and greets with USF student-athletes and Challenge Winner banners. The top “Final Four’’ schools in each of seven Hillsborough County areas — based on the average reading minutes among third-graders — won a field trip for 60 students and an awards ceremony at Tourney Town during Women’s Final Four festivities in April.

“The exciting thing about ‘Read to the Final Four’ is it usually takes all kind of hooks and incentives, some creative ways to get kids hooked on reading,’’ Baier said. “We know that boys and girls love competition. So you have the opportunity to seize this moment and tie it into a bigger, broader sports competition. It’s a great way to inspire these kids and get them excited about reading.

“One of the key elements is making it relevant for kids and helping to connect them to an activity. Kids might not think about sports and reading in the same category, so this makes it bigger than just a regular reading assignment.’’

Baier said the program has proven to be a “win-win’’ proposition — perfectly tying into the concept of March Madness competition.

“We firmly believe in the power of collaboration and the power of partnership,’’ Baier said. “What’s so wonderful about this moment is how the different supporters have come together, not only through this program, but all of the Women’s Final Four activities. The principals, the kids, the families … they’re all engaged. The Hillsborough County School District, USF, the Tampa Bay Sports Commission, the Local Organizing Committee, they’re all working together. So to have that kind of energy and enthusiasm around a particular reading program, it’s very inspirational. And there’s no doubt, it’s going to help many kids.’’