Reading gains sweet rewards

Vilonia Middle School students love to read and it shows. The Vilonia Middle School Accelerated Reading All Stars are students who have earned 100 points or more by taking Accelerated Reading Tests after reading the books.

Students have their pictures taken and placed on the AR All Star wall in the library and earn various prizes through the year. At the end of the year the students attend the AR All Star Sundae party where they were able to build their own sundaes and won prizes including books, bookmarks, toys, erasers, necklaces, bracelets and more.

The top readers were also honored at the End of the Year Awards ceremony.

The 100 point AR All Stars were: Rachel Allmon, Jordan Anderson, Ann Marie Arnett, Lizzy Atlas, Andrew Badger, Shayla Baker, Meagan Bartley, Nick Bever, D.J. Bolen, Garrett W. Brown, Emily Campbell, Nick Carter, Brick Cullum, Ethan Daves, Olivia Davidson, Jackie Deden, Annabella Dickey, Justin Dunn, Lindsey Edwards, Hannah Fay, Alex Ferguson, Kaleb Ferren, Allison Fields, Autumn France, Kaitlyn Frazier, Emma French, Jeni Fuller, Caitlin Gibson, Kelly Glover, Kenzie Hawks, Rachel Hinson, Libby Holbrook, Alysa Hollingsworth, Nikki Ingle, Chasity Isom, Dalton James, Nick Kirkpatrick, Madison Loyd, Allison Lyra, Dillon Madison, Alexis Marshall, Adrianna Martin, Brittany McBroome, Malynn McKay, Alyssa McLaughlin, Taylor McNeel, Ryan Myers, Witney Noel, Branden Payne, Breanna Peters, Layne Pittman, William Redwine, Brendan Riley, Austin Shell, Cacy Simpson, Kimberly Smith, Damon Straub, Alex Stroud, Kylie Teague, Branson Vanlandingham, Dennis Ward, Dylan Ware and Lauren Williams.

The 200 point AR All Stars were: Taylor Anderson, Cory Bradley, Nikki Brooks, Ean Brown, Reagan Goode, Emma Kemper, Stephanie King, Larone Lowe IV, Andre Maddox, Nathan Max, Kiana Metcalf, Levi Otts, Megan Peterson, Clayton Piacentini, Zachary Rail and Kelly Teer.

The 300 point AR All Stars were: Linda Bailey, Jacob Barnett, Seth Brixey, Grason Glenn, Cody Moore, Joshua Owen and Jackson Renfroe.

The only student who scored in the 400 point range was seventh-grader Melissa Sorsby. Fifth-grader Caitlyn Hallett was the only student to score in the 500 point range. Two sixth-graders scored in the 600 point range. They were Peyton Dockery and Connor Phillips.

The Top AR All Star for the entire school broke the school's previous record with a score of 808 points. Fifth-grader Alex Palmer earned this top honor along with a plaque and a $100 Wal-Mart gift card.

Vilonia Middle School had a total of 93 students make the AR All Stars, almost one sixth of the student body. This is the largest number of students to make it into the AR All Stars. Students are encouraged to take a test if they've read a book, but they are not required to do so.

This number just represents the students who took tests; the majority of the student body loves to read, but do not have time to take tests. Most students try to get on the board just to have their picture on the wall.

The prizes help encourage participation as well. This year students were able to win gift certificates to the book fairs as well as other prizes. Motivation and the love of reading made this program an incredible success.