The Fall 2016 Poly Drive Read-a-Thon kicked off on Friday, Oct. 7 All students have received their pledge sheets and instructions. Here’s the scoop:

From Oct. 10-14 students will set a reading goal and obtain sponsors. Sponsors may either pledge a flat donation or a set amount per minute read (i.e., $0.05 per minute or $10 flat donation). All donations are tax deductible.

During this week, students bring sponsor envelopes to school so they can be rewarded for new sponsors they’ve gathered. For each unique sponsor, students get raffle tickets and can choose which prize box they’ll put their tickets in. Prizes will be rewarded from the raffle prize boxes, as well as for most minutes read (individual and by class), most sponsors, and most money earned.

Oct. 15-21 (Saturday-Friday) Reading Week! Now it’s time to accrue those reading minutes each student sets as their personal goal. Minutes are logged on the sponsor envelope. Guest readers will read in the Poly Drive Library Monday-Wednesday morning at 8:10 a.m. Additional sponsors may be added during reading week.

Oct. 23: Add up all minutes read by students, including on their own, being read to and 100 minutes from school work.

Oct. 22-28: Contact sponsors and collect pledges, put all money and additional reading logs into the envelope, seal and return to the school no later than Friday, Oct. 28.

Funds raised through the Read-a-Thon will go toward STEM activities and initiatives, as well as other PTA-sponsored programs. Some of the funds are also used to refurbish library materials.