It was a warm, sunny day on January 7th, when students gathered on the playground at Cypress Elementary School for their 10,000,000 Word Club Celebration.

Back at the beginning of the school year, Cypress students were challenged to complete a school-wide reading goal of 10,000,000 words by winter break.  Students used Accelerated Reader and Kid Biz and took quizzes when they finished a book.  If they passed the quiz, they were credited with the book's word count.

Students accepted the challenge with great enthusiasm.  In fact, they not only met the goal but surpassed it by reading a total of 25,700,000 words!  At the assembly, Mr. Dillender read out the total for each class, as well as singling out its top reader.

In addition to the school-wide challenge, each classroom had a "mission" to accomplish and share at the assembly.  Some classes performed skits, made posters with pictures and drawings of the books they read, and even sang songs about their love of reading.  There were many crowd-pleasing moments in the assembly but one standout was when Charles Haenny, a 3rd grade teacher, sang new lyrics he wrote to the Def Leppard song "Pour Some Sugar on Me" while his class provided back-up.  The new lyrics included "Hey, everybody, have you heard; Cypress students read ten million words."

Every student received a lanyard and a "Mission Complete" charm to commemorate they achievement.  Students will be awarded additional charms or beads throughout the year for their accomplishments that they can add to their lanyards.

The students met their goal with such gusto that Mr. Dillender has set a second goal of 50,000,000 words by the end of the school year.  If their past performance is any indication, this group of voracious readers should have no problem accomplishing that goal.

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