Rutherford County produces two of the top readers in the state

Rutherford County is home to two of the top readers in the state.Smyrna’s Stewart’s Creek High School Senior Taylor Aslup and Murfreesboro’s Oakland Middle School sixth-grader Gibson Weber were among four winners of the annual Tristar Reads contest. Weber won the elementary school student (K-4) category while Aslup took home the contest’s overall winner award by reading 31 thousand minutes over the summer.Both students will take home a $1,000 scholarship.Aslup says she was able to read so much partially because most of the books that she read were downloaded to her phone, allowing her to read whenever she had free time.  Her favorite book this summer was Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren."I enjoy that while I read, I am able to experience something new. I was busy often this summer, with work and cheer, so reading gave me the break I needed. When I needed something happy, I could look to what I was reading to find it," said Aslup. "I just want to thank Tristar Reads for allowing me the opportunity to take an activity I love to do and use it to benefit my future."Webber says his favorite books to read this summer were the Warriors Super Edition series and the heat played a role in his reading minutes.“I just read whenever I could. I’m not a big fan of the summer heat so I mostly stayed in the nice cool air conditioning and read for hours on end. I also read on family vacations and cross-country road trips throughout the summer,” said Webber. “I am pretty chill and reading helps me relax. I also really like learning about new characters and different worlds.”Tennesseans for Student Success has operated the Tristar Reads contest each summer since 2016 to encourage students to fight the “summer slide” by reading during the break. Students participating in this year's program logged reading minutes from May 30 to August 7, 2023.During the contest more than 300 students combined to log 1.2 million reading minutes, the most in the history of Tristar Reads.“The vital role reading plays in children's academic success has received a lot of attention this year and we're proud to see our Tristar Reads contest playing a part in the statewide drive to encourage literacy," said Tennesseans for Student Success President and CEO Adam Lister. “We created Tristar Reads to provide a fun way to challenge students to avoid the summer slide so many experience when they're not in the classroom. Seeing our contest grow to more than a million reading minutes this year is an encouraging sign for the future. Each student who took part in Tristar Reads will be better prepared to hit the books this fall because they've kept their reading comprehension skills sharp over the summer.”The Tennessee Firefly is a project of and supported by Tennesseans for Student Success.Kingston’s Roane County High tenth-grader Lucas Hinds won the contest’s high school winner (9-12) category.  Hinds is a big fan of mathematics and says his favorite book of the summer was the Game Theory: Understanding the Mathematics of Life.“I just read things that I enjoyed! When you enjoy something, it’s a lot easier to find time to do it, whether it be on a long road trip, relaxing by the pool, or right before bed,” said Hinds. “I enjoy being able to learn more about anything that that comes to mind, there’s always something.”Elementary school student (K-4) Winner Wesley MartinMorristown third-grade homeschooler Wesley Martin won the contest’s elementary school student (K-4) category.  Martin says The Dragon Realm Series were his favorite books to read this summer.“I homeschool year-round and we decided to do a summer of reading so all my lessons were based on reading different books,” said Martin. “I really like gaining so much knowledge!”