On September 10, the students at Poplar Elementary School has the opportunity to check out a real race car up-close when the Auto Club Speedway's display car came to their school to kick-off their "Reading to Race" program.  The program sponsored by the Auto Club Speedway in conjunction with schools offers unique incentives to encourage students to read more books.

Joining forces with Auto Club Speedway was the brainchild of teachers Connie Verhulst and Mabel Garza.  Principal Michelle Hiser remembers that during a recent staff meeting, they were kicking around ideas for getting students more excited about reading.  Within minutes, Ms. Verhulst and Ms. Garza had searched the Internet and found this terrific program available right here in Fontana. 

In exchange for reading books and completed the Accelerated Reader program, students earn prizes.  Each grade level sets-up their own goals, for instance Kindergarten set their goal for students to read 25 sight words and third grade's goal is to earn 20 points on Accelerated Reading (which is approximately 40 picture books).  "The nice thing about this program is that the speedway allows you to set the goals for the students," said Ms. Verhulst.  "That means if you have an RSP student or a struggling student, you can set the goal at an appropriate level for that student."

Students will be reading until they reach the finish line on September 25.  All the students who meet their goal will receive a ticket for an event at the Auto Club Speedway.  The ticket will be good for either Friday, October 9, for the NASCAR Qualifying Day or Saturday, October 10, for the NASCAR National COPART 300.  Since children 12 and under can get in free, the ticket can be used for their parent or guardian.

The students that are currently the top three readers in each class had their photos taken with the racecar on Thursday.  Debbie Alvarez and Lefty, the Kid's Club Mascot from the Auto Club Speedway, accompanied the car.  "The car is Clint Bowyer's retired Chevrolet Impala," she said.  "He last drove the car in the Dodge Dealers 400 at the Dover International Speedway in 2007, where he finished in 12th place and won the USG Improving the Finish Award.  The car is retired now and we use it for events like this one."

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