Pocopson Elementary is Phanatic About Reading! 

Mary Schinski, a second grade teacher at Pocopson, won the Philadelphia Phillies Phanatic About Reading Teacher Essay Contest. The Phanatic About Reading program incentivises students Pre-K to eighth to participate in 15 minutes of reading everyday. Mrs. Schinski's essay was selected based on her answer to the following prompt: Tell us how your students are benefitting from the program or share a story of success that has come from being part of the program. Part of Mrs. Schinski's response included, “We learned that working hard toward a goal and teamwork is always important. And that not everything may go your way, but that you should still be proud of the effort you put toward things that are important to you.” The response also mentioned how her class would recap each Phillies game and how they learned many lessons from the players based on the ups and downs of the season. She was able to incorporate these lessons into the classroom, which includes a monthly reading log. Mrs. Schinski noted that the goal of the reading log was for her students to read at least 15 minutes every night. She said she was blown away that her students actually ended up reading for 30-45 minutes each night. All the hard work paid off as she was chosen as a winner of the essay contest! Congratulations Mrs. Schinski!

Pocopson celebrated with an assembly featuring a special guest - the Phillie Phanatic! During the assembly, Mrs. Schinski and her class were recognized for their participation in the program. Dr. Beaver read The Phillie Phanatic's Hero while the Phanatic acted out the story with help of staff and student volunteers. The program concluded with a dance party led by the Phanatic. What a fun way to celebrate Pocopson's participation in the program and encourage our students to be Phanatic About Reading!