Each summer students from across Tennessee take part in a competition that takes place in chairs, bedrooms, libraries, and even cars.
It’s known as Tristar Reads and the goal is to spend the most minutes reading over the summer break. Tennesseans for Student Success created Tristar Reads in 2016 to help stop the so-called “summer slide” that many students encounter over the summer months when they’re not in school. The Tennessee Firefly is funded in part by Tennesseans for Student Success.
This year, 77 participants students spent roughly 273 thousand minutes reading including overall winner Jeffrey Stubblefield.
The Belvoir Christian Academy fourth grader read an astonishing 30,150 minutes over the May 31 to August 8 contest.
“Reading is my favorite hobby because I learn so much,” said Stubblefield. “It sparks my imagination, and it feels like there’s a movie going on in my head.”
This is the third time Stubblefield has won one of Tristar Reads’ categories and he’s not the only multiple year winner.
Sarah Collier won the high school student (9-12) category after reading 17,220 minutes. This marks the fifth time the 10th grade Harpeth High student has won one of the contest categories.
Each winner takes home a $1,000 scholarship. Collier says her contest winnings will come in handy when she graduates.
“I have to pay for my own college so being able to start off with some money to get the things I need will be very helpful because I’m going to be working to get my own money,” said Collier. “Having that start will be very helpful in the future.”
This year’s other winners include the elementary school student (K-4) winner Griffin Harrison and middle school student (5-8) winner Tallen Haag.
Harrison is a first grader at Nashville Classical Charter School in East Nashville. He won his category reading 10,490 minutes this summer.
“I really like reading and I had more time this summer to read,” said Harrison. “I was born in a house of people that read a lot of books. I have a big brother who is 12 and he recommends a lot of books to me, especially graphic novels he thinks I might like. I read a lot of the Snoopy comics this summer.”
Haag is a home school student in Robertson County. She spent 16,995 minutes reading this summer and says one of her favorite reads was the 5 Worlds series.
“I love it because it’s action-packed and the characters are relatable,” said Haag. “I was able to read so much this summer because I make reading a priority and have a lot of encouragement from my mom. I always take along books to read in the car, too. I go to the library often and am always excited to see what’s new. It’s easy to stay motivated when you have a stack of new books to read!”
Tristar Reads will return in 2023. The contest is open to all Tennessee students entering grades K-12 who register.
