Middle school reading champ says winning was more challenging this year
Reading champion Tallen Haag’s love of books might actually have its beginnings in her mother’s search for a new house.Stacey Haag says she had one very important prerequisite for any home she considered buying.“We have a whole library in our home. When I bought my house, the requirement was it had to have a library and if it didn’t have a library it had to have a place for a library,” said Stacey Haag. “We always made sure there were a lot more books than toys and there’s books on every surface of our house and it’s really about leading by example.”Stacey Haag says she started reading to her daughter at bedtime from day one and she can’t remember a time when the 6th grade Portland homeschooler didn’t love books.That explains why she’s been able to win two age categories in the annual Tristar Reads contest.
In 2019 Haag won the Elementary School category in the summer reading contest by reading 28,286 minutes. Haag followed that up this year by reading 16,995 minutes to win the Middle School category.Last month her hometown of Portland held a ceremony at the town library to honor Haag’s accomplishments.“I really like reading because it gives me so much information and knowledge about the outside world that I wouldn’t otherwise know,” said Tallen Haag. “My favorite types of books to read are science non-fiction, adventure fiction, and graphic novels.”
Time Management Challenge
Haag says winning the contest this year was a little more challenging than two years ago, because she’s more involved in summer activities.This year’s Tristar Reads contest ran from late May to August. Haag attended seven summer camps during that time including one that was a sleep away camp.“It was pretty hard to figure out like ok I might have camp this one day so I have to read the book on the way to and from camp and then after dinner I just have to read,” said Haag. “Read like there’s no tomorrow.”“She had days in there where we didn’t get to count any minutes because she was at 4H camp, so it made those days where she was home that much more important. She had to make up that time and do as much as she could.” said Stacey Haag. “Thankfully she doesn’t get car sick like I do so on the way to and from camp she was able to get some reading in each day.”Haag’s good use of time management paid off.This year’s win earned the middle school student a second $1,000 scholarship. It’s money she says will come in handy years from now when Haag enrolls in college with the goal of becoming a forensic scientist.
