A new challenge has come to RHS, one that will open your mind to different worlds. This year is our first ever reading challenge. Ms. Kelleher, our Library Media Specialist, decided to put this reading challenge together to help the RHS community read more books. 

The reading challenge started this January and will run through December of this year. For seniors participating in this reading challenge, they have until they graduate to complete their goal. 

Ms. Kelleher thought that the challenge is a good way to help promote reading and as she explained, “it’s more of a fun way to do that”. 

To increase the fun, Ms. Kelleher is also organizing a raffle for the students who reach their reading goal. She has received a donation of Barnes and Nobles and Dunkin Donuts gift cards. Now for the seniors and students who do not reach their goal, they will still get a small gift to show Ms. Kelleher’s appreciation for joining the reading challenge. 

As of February 17 there were around 55 members of the RHS community in the reading challenge. 70% were students and the other 30% were faculty members. 

There is no specific number of books that you have to read in 2022. The members of the reading challenge have their own separate goals. Some want to read a book a month and others want to try to read 100 books this year, which is Ms. Kelleher’s personal goal. 

Notably, participants have options for how to read. Both print and digital book copies count towards one’s reading goal. Readers may also use audiobooks, something Ms. Kellher herself plans on using. 

Ms. Kelleher has her work cut out for her when it comes to following participants’ reading goals. She will be keeping track of everyone’s reading through a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet will contain the student or staff’s name, their reading goal and how much they have read. There will be monthly check-ins for everyone’s progress.

Reading recommendations can go a long way for a reader who is struggling to find the right books to read. Ms. Kelleher doesn’t give the same recommendations to each student. Every student has their own individualized ways of reading so what might work for one might not work for another. 

A few of Ms. Kellehers recommendations are: 

• Mystery- Karen McManus 
• Realistic Fiction and Romance- We Both Die At The End by Adam Silveria 
• Young Adult Fiction- Elizabeth Acivdo 

Now if you are having trouble picking a genre to read you can break it up into two plots. Those are either a Magical story or more of a realistic fiction type of story.

There are days where it can be hard to be motivated to read. According to Ms. Kelleher “My number one recommendation is before bed put my phone to charge in the kitchen. I always read before falling asleep.” Ms. Kelleher has noticed that reading before bed has increased her mental health and that it is a nice routine to have. 

Ms. Kelleher definitely wants to continue the reading challenge for years to come. She is considering changing it to the school year calendar instead of the yearly calendar. Some other ideas Ms. Kelleher has is to do semester reading challenges and maybe even a summer reading challenge.