JEDDAH – For the second year running Jeddah Private School has launched its Reading Challenge that witnessed the participation of over 83 students from grades one through to 10. The program encouraged students to read Arabic and English non-curriculum related books and keep a daily log of publications read as well as share brief summaries of the stories during their weekly library sessions. The program took place during the month of April and the finale was hosted at the school presenting the participating students with their certificates of participation and medals. Special commendation token bookmarks were presented to students who had read over 15 books and the winning class was awarded the 2015 Reading Challenge trophy. A total of 1,158 books were read during the challenge period, consisting of 800 English books and 358 Arabic books. The third grade girls class was awarded the trophy for reading a total of 324 books, the highest amongst all participating classes. The Reading Challenge has become very popular and students were engaged in reading and keeping their logbooks updated. The program was designed to attract the interest of students by rewarding them at the end of the initiative. The response by the students in taking part in the non-compulsory program, which was organized and supervised by the school librarian Sameeha Al-Bahlouli, was considered phenomenal. Special recognition was given to top student readers Sadeq Ehab Al Balaa in the grade one who read 99 books, Loulwah Badr Bin Himd of grade four who read 45 and Lama Saleh Al-Wadei of grade nine who read 25. Leila Sabbah Tahlawi, Jeddah Private School founder and principal: “This is our second year hosting such a dynamic program and we were proud of the students' achievements and avid participation of many of the parents who encouraged their children to take part. “The feedback was outstanding and many families turned it into a family activity discussing books at home with their children. “Such programs are key in the development of vocabulary growth and broadening students' horizons. “The discussion groups also held open opportunities for students to see things from a different perspective and discuss other viewpoints.” Jeddah Private School (JPS) is one of the oldest Saudi private schools in the city and was founded in 1980.
