Tennessee Students Spend Nearly a Million Minutes Reading in Tristar Reads Competition

NASHVILLE -- Tennesseans for Student Success (TSS) is excited to once again congratulate each participant in our annual Tristar Reads contest, who combined to read nearly 40 percent more than last year.  A total of 484 students logged nearly 940 thousand reading minutes from May 27 to August 4, including Delia Sigler, who spent nearly 33 thousand minutes with a book! 

Sigler won the High School Student category last year and returned this year to read the most of anyone in the contest. Sigler and three other students will each take home a $1,000 college scholarship for winning the contest categories listed below:  

• Overall Winner:
  Delia Sigler, 11th grader from Tipton Rosemark Academy
• High School Student:
  Brextyn Poetzel, ninth-grade homeschooler from Farragut
• Middle School Student:
  Kristav Parajuli, fifth grader from Warren County Schools
• Elementary School Student:
  Noah Little, kindergarten homeschooler from East Knoxville

“We're proud of each participant in Tristar Reads for stepping up to the challenge and combining to log the second most reading minutes in contest history," said Tennesseans for Student Success President and CEO Lana Skelo. “Reading is a foundational part of every child's academic journey, and studies show it can truly make a difference during the summer break when too many students experience an academic slide. Each participant in Tristar Reads will be better prepared for success this fall semester thanks to the effort they made keeping those pages turning over the last three months."

All four students will receive their checks at an award ceremony later this month.

TSS created Tristar Reads in 2016 to invite all Tennessee students entering grades K-12 to spend at least 20 minutes each day reading a book. Atmos Energy and Vooks additionally partnered with the contest to provide children with access to hundreds of digital books through a free 1-year subscription. TSS is appreciative of Atmos Energy’s partnership and support to expand reading opportunities and literacy for Tennessee students.

Tennesseans for Student Success is a team of strategists that amplifies the collective power of parents, policymakers, and advocates using electoral impact, data, government relations, and policy work to shape creative and effective statewide policies that promote every child in Tennessee having access to a high-quality public education.