University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Seymour's Winter Reading Program Completes Another Year
2/4/2020 4:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The top three schools are set to be celebrated on Saturday at the WKU game.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Lady Eagles have completed another year of Seymour's Winter Reading Program with schools in the area.
Seymour's Winter Reading Program encourages schools from Jackson all the way to the Mississippi Coast to have their students read books over the winter break. Students in preschool through fifth grade were given the opportunity to read books to receive rewards from Southern Miss Athletics. Kids from preschool to third grade age were challenged to read five books or more to receive a voucher to admit the student and three other guests to a women's basketball game on Jan. 25 or the Feb. 8. Fourth and fifth grade students were challenged to read three books to receive the same voucher to the games. The top three reading schools will be recognized at halftime of the Feb. 8 game, determined by the percentage of students who achieved the reading goals.
The program saw 11,667 students participate in this year's program, from 28 different schools and 19 different counties. The top three schools based on the number of bookmarks completed were Highland Elementary, L.T. Taylor Intermediate School, and Grace Christian Academy. Highland Elementary had 20 classrooms complete their bookmarks and had 500 students.
"Our Seymour's Winter Reading Program is phenomenal," said Lady Eagle Basketball Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "It provides interest for our children to read at least four books over the break. Our belief here at Southern Miss is when you encourage children to read, they become smarter adults, they are more successful at everything they do, and they gain confidence in who they are. So when they accomplish something, Southern Miss wants to reward them by giving them four tickets to two games."
Schools who would like to participate in next year's Seymour's Winter Reading Program can email cameron.corken@usm.edu or call 601-266-6629.
The Lady Eagles will be making trips to local schools over the course of the year, a number of which participated in this year's program.
Seymour's Winter Reading Program encourages schools from Jackson all the way to the Mississippi Coast to have their students read books over the winter break. Students in preschool through fifth grade were given the opportunity to read books to receive rewards from Southern Miss Athletics. Kids from preschool to third grade age were challenged to read five books or more to receive a voucher to admit the student and three other guests to a women's basketball game on Jan. 25 or the Feb. 8. Fourth and fifth grade students were challenged to read three books to receive the same voucher to the games. The top three reading schools will be recognized at halftime of the Feb. 8 game, determined by the percentage of students who achieved the reading goals.
The program saw 11,667 students participate in this year's program, from 28 different schools and 19 different counties. The top three schools based on the number of bookmarks completed were Highland Elementary, L.T. Taylor Intermediate School, and Grace Christian Academy. Highland Elementary had 20 classrooms complete their bookmarks and had 500 students.
"Our Seymour's Winter Reading Program is phenomenal," said Lady Eagle Basketball Head Coach Joye Lee-McNelis. "It provides interest for our children to read at least four books over the break. Our belief here at Southern Miss is when you encourage children to read, they become smarter adults, they are more successful at everything they do, and they gain confidence in who they are. So when they accomplish something, Southern Miss wants to reward them by giving them four tickets to two games."
Schools who would like to participate in next year's Seymour's Winter Reading Program can email cameron.corken@usm.edu or call 601-266-6629.
The Lady Eagles will be making trips to local schools over the course of the year, a number of which participated in this year's program.
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