13 high schoolers reading millions of words

The dream of becoming a millionaire may not come true for everyone, but for a group of San Luis High School students, that dream was just fulfilled. At least in the numbers of words they read, 13 students are the first millionaires in this city under the Accelerated Reading Program, the effort of school librarians and school officials to promote the habit of reading using computer software.

Since the beginning of the semester, the participants used the computer-based program to register the number of words they read every day, passing through levels as if they were playing a video game.

But instead of a game, they are constructing language and expression abilities that will help them for life.

“We are trying to force a good habit because if they continue reading outside of class, it is beneficial for them in the long run. If they want to get in college, they will need to have the habit of reading," said Laura Inman, assistant librarian at the school.

Three students achieved outstanding numbers and put themselves at the top of the list of readers.

Kevin Escobedo, 15, does not remember how many books he held in his hands to read 4,333,073 words but said he enjoyed the process.

“I don't like sports because I'm not good at them, and I get bored using the computer and that's when I start to read”.

As an accelerated reader, Escobedo has traveled through the pages of many mystery books, mostly Stephen King stories.

The son of a welder, he said his parents worry because of his long reading sessions, but “reading is helping me a lot with my English, I learned a lot of new words.”

“Some said to me there are people who got crazy for reading too much, but I like reading.”

The runner-up in the program was Erick Hernandez, who agrees with Escobedo about the benefits of reading.

“It is helping me to stay more focused in class and in my life. It is kind of like a quiet place to get away sometimes, basically from those things you don't like," he said. Hernandez reached the second-highest number of words read at 2,041,714.

They do what any normal teenager does, especially when it comes to having e-mail and MySpace accounts, but differ from the rest because they rather spend more time reading than navigating the Web.

"I have my e-mail," said Hernandez, "but I rarely use MySpace, I prefer reading. Some people say you shouldn't read so often, it just means you are a nerd. I just read because I like it."

In third place, Angel Canseco read 2,041,714 words, mostly fiction, in 10- to 15-minute sessions but said he has been a reader since sixth grade 

“Reading is helping me to express myself better in English. Some of my friends like it, some not, but I enjoy reading," said Canseco.

After each book they read, the students took a quiz, and depending on the result, could challenge themselves further.

"It is good for our beginning students who just learned to speak English, and to guys like this who don't even need the system to help them read," Inman said.
  "Mostly they compete against themselves. It is self-motivation and a great way of knowing that reaching the joy of reading is possible."

At the school, the habit of reading is growing considerably, according to Inman.

“We have a small library, but we use more books and more are being checked out on a daily basis than some others high schools.

"We are trying to always have something interesting for our students, there's a great variety, guys prefer mystery books, girls like romance books, but our students are reading more," Inman said.

 Other students who reached the millionaire list are Alexis Orozco, Karen Castro, Lucero Amezcua, Joanna Narez, Charis Nuñez, Estaban Beltran, Sean Franklin, Auri Diaz and Elsa Gomez.

The entire group read 84,795,457 words and there seems to be a trend for the numbers to grow next year because of the increasing interest in taking a book and enjoying the journey.

“Fortunately at elementary schools, they are promoting the habit of reading, but parents can help too, by reading something, at least the newspaper in front of the children and discuss what you are reading and ask them to read to you. It would be good for everybody," Inman said.