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S.J. Sharkie, the mascot of the San Jose Sharks hockey team, visited two kindergarten classrooms at Joseph Weller Elementary School last Thursday as a reward for the students' achievements in the "Reading Is Cool" literacy program sponsored by the Sharks and Fremont Bank. Weller kindergarten teachers Sue Von Tersch and Kristi Hirano, both Sharks fans, learned of the program and decided that it would be an enjoyable way to get their students excited about reading.
As part of the program, students are asked to log every book they read or had read to them.
"Ms. Hirano and I would both read three books to the students every day, and their parents would read to them at home, and we logged all of these books," Von Tersch said. "And the kids started reading on their own constantly, until we submitted the number at the end of the month."
The number the teachers submitted was an astounding 3,750 books read in the month of March. The total placed the Weller students in the top 10 participating schools for the month, earning them the special visit from the Sharks mascot, who brought books and other prizes as rewards for the students.
"This is the first year of school for these students, so most of them did not even know what a letter was when the year started," Von Tersch. "Now they come up to me and they are so excited. They scream, ÔI can read!' I'm just really proud of them."
