By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Ahlanah Kelly, a third grader at the Ocean City Primary School, held an oversized children’s book in her tiny hands. The title was “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World.”
“I’m going to take it home and read it with my mom and sister,” the 8-year-old Ahlanah said in a soft voice.
Ahlanah and about 140 of her classmates from the second and third grades got a jump on reading “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World” and other children’s stories during an event Monday morning that could be loosely described as the Super Bowl of reading competitions.
Called READBowl 2022, the excitement unfolded on the Carey Stadium field at Ocean City High School. Members of the high school football team and their coach Kevin Smith handed out copies of children’s books to the second and third graders to inspire them to read.
“This is fun. Hopefully, they’ll come here one day to play football and to read,” the football team’s kicker, Brendan McGonigle, said of the primary school kids eventually becoming high school students.
McGonigle, a 17-year-old senior, got READBowl underway by kicking off to the second and third graders while they were lined up on the artificial turf close to midfield. The kids scrambled for the football in a mass scrum.
“I liked how aggressive they were going after the ball,” Smith joked when asked whether he spotted any potential young talent for his high school football team among the primary schoolers.
On a serious note, Smith, a history teacher at Ocean City High School, explained that the football team has had a long, productive partnership with the primary school to encourage kids to read.
“It’s been a really cool relationship between the high school students and the youngsters,” he said.
Smith’s Red Raiders went 12-1 during the 2021 season, the first time the Ocean City football team ever won 12 games. They also claimed the West Jersey Football League’s Independence Division title and qualified for the NJSIAA South Jersey championship game for the third straight year.
However, the football team wasn’t the only champion in the Ocean City school district. Last year, Ocean City Primary School teacher Erin Porter’s second graders grabbed the conference championship in New Jersey during the READBowl reading challenge. Porter said she and her students are determined to defend their coveted title.
“Oh, yeah, we are definitely going to be the winner,” she said, laughing.
Porter, who organized the READBowl event Monday at Carey Stadium, wore a pair of decorative glasses that spelled out the word “Read.”
As a teacher, Porter said she hopes that her enthusiasm for reading rubs off on her students.
“I try to get the kids excited to read,” she said. “I think the attitude of the teacher gets them pumped.”
All of the kids at READBowl seemed excited. The teachers did, too. Jennifer Eget, a third grade teacher, led the students in a reading cheer.
“Why are we here?” Eget chanted to the kids.
“To read!” the students responded.
“What do we want to do better?” Eget said, continuing her chant.
“To read!” the kids replied again.
Cathy Smith, principal of the Ocean City Primary School, thanked the Ocean City Education Association for donating copies of bestselling author Malcolm Mitchell’s books for each student participating in the reading challenge.
Mitchell, a former New England Patriots wide receiver and Super Bowl champion, is a children’s literacy advocate and creator of the READBowl reading challenge.
During READBowl, pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students around the globe compete to read for the most minutes. The reading competition coincides with the day of the college football national championship on Jan. 10.
READBowl will culminate with a live crowning of the World Champions of Reading on the morning of the National Football League’s Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 13.
Mitchell overcame his owns struggles with reading as a kid to become an author and “literacy crusader” for children worldwide.
One of his children’s tales is “My Very Favorite Book in the Whole Wide World,” the same book that Ocean City Primary School third grader Ahlanah Kelly was so eager to read.
During all the READBowl hoopla, Ahlanah and some of her classmates sat down on the field at Carey Stadium and began skimming through the pages.
“The most exciting part is getting books,” Ahlanah said.
