June 9, 2021
On Tuesday, we announced our sixth annual statewide summer reading scholarship program, Tristar Reads. Students, with parent supervision, are asked to visit tristarreads.com to sign up and log the hours they read each week. At the end of the summer, we will award three $1,000 scholarships to a student in elementary (K-5th grade), middle (6th-8th grade), and high school (9th-12th grade) who reads the most hours over the summer.
This year, we are partnering with Atmos Energy’s program to encourage students to sign up for a free 1-year subscription to Vooks – a way to digitally bring hundreds of books into your home. The free Vooks offer has been made possible by a donation from Atmos Energy. Students can claim their free subscription at vooks.com/pages/atmos.
Last year, during a time of social distancing, Tristar Reads featured Tennessee legislators reading a book aloud to students through their weekly newsletters and Facebook Live. Watch our friends in the legislature like House Education Chairman Mark White, Senator Bill Powers, and Representative Esther Helton read aloud on TSS’s YouTube Channel.
Tristar Reads will run from June 7th – September 6th and is open to all Tennessee students. Please visit tristarreads.com for rules of entry, suggested reading lists, and more information.
TSS thanks Lt. Governor Randy McNally for his commitment to K-12 education. His leadership in the Senate this year will have a big impact on students across Tennessee for years to come.
News Channel 5 (Nashville): Tenn. Dept. of Education offers free at-home reading resources for kindergartens, first, second graders
Axios: Far-reaching economic effects of school closures
Thomas B. Fordham Institute: Tennessee’s excellent plan to address unfinished learning
Chalkbeat: Schwinn plans 10-day bus tour to spotlight summer learning happening across Tennessee
The 74th: Education Through the Pandemic: From Tennessee’s Push to Woo New Teachers Through Higher Salaries to Indiana’s Decline in HS Grads Seeking Out More Education, 11 Ways States Are Confronting COVID Slide