Some of the speakers at the Operation Read Book Boogie awards
ceremony Friday, Amy 30, included from left Wawasee Schools Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer, Norma Ferguson, Operation Read CEO DeeAnna Muraski, Regional Director for Gov. Mike Braun Mary Martin, and Syracuse Elementary Principal Karen Brock.

By Maksym Hart
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — Cheers filled the gym at Syracuse Elementary School Friday, May 30, as students, staff, and special guests gathered for the school’s final Book Boogie Awards ceremony of the school year.

The Book Boogie Bash, part of Operation Read’s literacy initiative, honored top readers and teachers who led their classrooms in a reading effort that logged a combined 2,088,846 pages across Wawasee Community Schools.

Mary Martin, regional director for the office of Gov. Mike Braun, served as a special guest speaker, delivering a message on the lifelong impact of reading.

She was joined by Operation Read advocate, Norma Ferguson; Wawasee Schools Superintendent Dr. Steve Troyer; Syracuse Elementary Principal Karen Brock; board treasurer and business owner, Adora Truex; and other community leaders to present awards and hand out prizes.

The celebration recognized both student and teacher achievements. Fourth-grade teachers Kim McCreary and Dawn Yoder tied for highest class participation and each received a $25 Amazon and $25 Barnes and Noble gift card.

Among kindergarten to second grade students, second-grader Nikolas Pawlicki took first place with an impressive 20,775 pages read, followed by kindergarten student Quade Sanders with 17,721 pages. For third to fifth grade, third-grader Jerry Zhuo claimed top honors with 16,601 pages, narrowly edging out fourth-grader Jase Tackitt, who read 16,278 pages.

First grade teacher Kaila Grimm was also recognized for her personal reading total, 12,095 pages, earning a special congratulations from event organizers.

Classroom-wide achievements were also highlighted. Katie Young’s kindergarten class read over 62,721 pages, while Dawn Yoder’s fourth-grade class led the upper grades with 82,977 pages. Both classes were rewarded with a cooler full of desserts for their efforts.

The school as a whole contributed 879,694 pages to the district total, making Syracuse Elementary the most-read school in the district. In a close contest for most pages read by school, Milford Elementary took second place with 663,844 pages, with North Webster’s 545,308 placing it in third.

For Syracuse Elementary’s strong showing, Operation Read announced the dedication of a new Book Nook in the school’s library, named in honor of Ferguson. The nook will feature a commemorative plaque, two original Squishmallow chairs, and five special-edition books.

Students also participated in the “Stack of Success” guessing game, estimating the height, weight, and total pages in a towering stack of reading logs.

Winning students were Phoenix Garrison, closest to both height and total pages at 1,397; Rensley Moore, closest to height at 8.5 inches; and Thomas Dimmick, closest to weight at 17 pounds.

For staff, kindergarten teacher, Britney Goff, was closest to guessing the correct weight, while special needs para, Jeanie Smeltzer, was the closest guesser in all categories.

All winners were given prizes from the Book Boogie prize table, such as books, quilts, mugs, Squishmallows, T-shirts, and grand prizes including a $250 Amazon gift card, a Jetson Jupiter Mini Light-Up Scooter, and a Razor Hovertrack Board with LED features.

Operation Read, in collaboration with sponsors including the Syracuse-Wawasee Rotary Club, The Gift Shop of Wawasee, Staples in Warsaw, the Esther Pfleiderer Charitable Trust, and Maple Leaf Farms, wrapped up the event by passing the torch to the Syracuse Public Library’s summer reading camp, which begins in June.

For more information or to support the literacy program, visit operationreadusa.org or call (574) 529-5783.

The student winners of the 2024-25 Syracuse Elementary School Book Boogie are from left Jace Tackett, Regan Beasley, Maya Tenorio Parsons, Harvey Mikel, Ellie Gonzales, Charlotte Meeks, Bo Beasley, Adelyn Miller, Leon Mikel, Oliver Hosetler, Summit Cripe, Nora Abel, Reagan Champoux, Quade
Sanders, Grace Weaver and Nikolas Pawlicki.