Prizes were given out to Book Boogie grand prize winners Thursday, May 23. Kids who participated in the Book Boogie every month this year and a few lucky winners from a random drawing also received prizes. In the front row from left are Joshua Quintana, Amelia Griepentrog, Aiden Griepentrog and Sofia Arndt. Second row: Imilia Gonzalez, Bailey Casey and Logan Castro. Third row: Gabriella Correll, Brie Tusing, Emeline Baut, Marin Szynal, Harrison Lehman, Zeke Savage and Levi Savage. Photo by Lilli Dwyer.

By Lilli Dwyer
InkFreeNews

MILFORD — The Book Boogie grand prize winners were announced at Milford Elementary School’s awards ceremony Thursday, May 23.

First and second place grand prizes were awarded to the students with the most pages read by grade level.

In the kindergarten through second grade category, first place went to Imilia Gonzalez with 13,368 pages read and second place to Bailey Casey with 10,115 pages read.

These winners received a Book Boogie Top Reader brag tag, handpainted bookmark, $25 Barnes & Noble gift card, a Smithsonian Our World and History book, a Big Book of Search & Find, a Good Night Little Blue Truck book, the How To Catch storybook collection, a Tops & Bottoms book, an original Squishmallow, Lego 668 piece Police Station City set with Road Plates or the Lego Police Mobile Crime Lab, a Halo Premium Inline Scooter and a 4-wheel drive radio-controlled steel vehicle.

In the third to fifth grade category, first place was Harrison Lehman with 36,032 pages read and in second place was Brie Tusing with 32,979 pages read.

These winners received a Book Boogie Top Reader brag tag, handpainted bookmark, $25 Barnes & Noble gift card, National Geographic Kids 5,000 Facts book, National Geographic Kids Almanac, either the Illustrated Complete Jane Austen novel set or the Illustrated Complete Charles Dickens novel set, three additional books, an original Squishmallow, and a Jetson Plasma X Hoverboard.

Barnes & Noble gift cards for $25 were given out to kids who participated in the Book Boogie every month this year. These winners were Bailey Casey, Levi Savage, Sophia Arndt, Matilda Bontrager, Logan Castro, Payton Scheeren, Harrison Lehman, Zeke Savage, Brie Tusing, Emeline Baut and Marin Szynal.

The staff member with the most pages read was Natalie Bolton, who read 24,642 pages. She received three books, a knit blanket, a $25 Starbucks gift card, $25 Barnes & Noble Gift card and a $250 Amazon gift card.

First grade teacher Melissa Possell received $25 gift cards to Amazon and Barnes & Noble for having the class with the most Book Boogie participants.

The total number of pages read at Milford Elementary this year was 663,844, beating their goal of half a million pages. Because of this, each student who participated in the Book Boogie at some point this year received a reading brag tag, a cable bracelet and a certificate with their name and the number of pages they read.

Prizes were also given away to six students from a random drawing.

Brie Tusing, left, and Harrison Lehman show off the hoverboard awarded to top readers in their grade level while Operation Read executive director DeeAnna Muraski displays some National Geographic books, also part of the prize. Photo provided by Operation Read.

Imilia Gonzalez, left, proudly sports a scooter she won for being a top reader in the kindergarten through second grade category, while Bailey Casey shows a Lego set. Operation Read board treasurer Adora Truex gets one of the top prize Squishmallows out of its bag. Photo provided by Operation Read.