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Local third-graders win Final Four prize for reading

Some studious local third-graders have been enjoying Final Four festivities all day long as a prize for their hard work.
Credit: Floyd, Jackson

SAN ANTONIO — Some studious third-grade students have been enjoying Final Four festivities all day long, as a prize for their hard work.

It’s a reward for coming out on top in an NCAA-inspired challenge. However, instead of playing ball, these students were competing in something very different.

“It’s exactly like the Final Four for basketball,” said Loma Park Principal Wendy Salazar. “They had a bracket and everything.”

Exactly like the Final Four – but swap the basketball for books.

Sixty-eight third-grade classes in San Antonio competed in the Read to Final Four tournament.

“They were reading everywhere,” said Salazar. “Reading during lunch, during recess, during a field trip to the zoo.”

Loma Park third-graders racked up more than 200,000 minutes of reading in less than two months. An accomplishment led by tournament MVP, 9-year-old Dionicio Olivarez.

“If I have an after school doctors appointment or something I’ll read. Just keep reading,” he said.

Dionicio found his new love for reading thanks to some special characters: Dog Man and Captain Underpants.

That – plus a sweet incentive. Dionicio, along with three other MVPs in the tournament will receive bicycles for their lofty amounts of reading.

They are also receiving praise. Salazar called the kids “exceptional.”

The first place prize for Loma Park is $5,000 to makeover their school’s library, plus a day at Fan Fest. The other top five top reading classes also received a Fan Fest pass.

For most students, the competition was a way to earn a day of fun. But for others, like Dionicio, it was about much more than that.

"I had never read that much," the student said. "Reading is always gonna be in your life, and there's words that you might not know, so you need to learn those words."

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