READING ROCKS!!!

I can't believe that this is basically my only Reading Rocks post of the summer. Not only has Reading Rocks consumed a lot of my time this summer, it has also been one of my absolute favorite parts of the summer. I am SO sad its over!!

We had over 70 kids participate this summer, and about 55 of them earned enough points to be invited to the party...and we had about 45 or so actually come to the party. It was so much fun!!

We started the party with the kids getting some yummy food and watching a slide show Carisa made of them throughout the summer. They really like to see themselves. :)

After we ate, we all went into the awards room where each kid received a certificate of achievement for participating and it had their overall points total. It was really exciting because this was the first year that the overall points winner wasn't a staff kid! We also handed out special fruit of the spirit awards to 6 special kids that consistently showed the fruit of the spirit throughout the summer. That was a really fun addition this year!

After receiving their awards the kids are called one by one (in order of points earned), to pick out a brand new backpack! Thanks to Shannon's amazingness there were over 80 backpacks for them to choose from!

After getting their backpack they get a bag full of school supplies, a pack of new socks and a pack of new underwear. When I say FULL of school supplies, I am not exaggerating. Each kid received: 1 binder, 1 pack of loose leaf paper, 2 spiral bound notebooks, 5 folders, 2 packs of pencils, 1 pack of colored pencils, 1 pack thin tip markers, 1 pack broad tip markers, 1 pencil sharpener, 1 white glue, 2 glue sticks, 1 ruler, 1 pack of pencil top erasers, 2 pink erasers, 1 pair of scissors, and 1 pack of index cards! They are all ready for school!!

The final part of the party is to take a group picture, and then the kids head home.

Overall, the party was an amazing success. It was exciting for me this year (and kinda sad) because I didn't have any kids participating in Reading Rocks, but both Linda and Bonita were AMAZING helpers...at the party and all summer. I continue to be so impressed with their love for kids and their willingness to serve.


Shannon did an INCREDIBLE job getting all the backpacks and supplies together, and Carisa literally took care of everything else. What did I do? Well, I was in charge of the dancing. :)

Looks like I'm going to have to try and work a little harder on my job next year, haha.

It was SO much fun to see all the kids run and show off their new things to their parents, and to see the excitement on the parents faces as well. So many of them were so proud of their kids' hard work, and so excited to have help getting their kids the things they need for school.

I especially want to thank SO many of you who continue to support me and these kids. Don't these faces just make EVERYTHING worth it??

(My Bella!!)