More Than a Number: 10-Million Minute Reading Challenge
What could inspire a school principal and two assistant principals to dress up as leprechauns and dance a jaunty jig during morning drop-off? Why would an arcade claw machine show up in a school library? How could all of this culminate in Fulton County Schools (FCS) Superintendent Dr. Mike Looney being bombarded by students with Silly String?
You can thank the 10-Million Minute Reading Challenge. FCS Media and Educational Technology Instructor (METI) Program Specialist Sadeqwa Simmons is the driving force behind the initiative, which focuses on increasing literacy proficiency among FCS students.
In an email to METIs across the district, Simmons emphasizes that the effort goes beyond test scores. Her goal, she writes, is to help students “find joy in reading.”
The enthusiastic response to the program led to some great news as the 2025-26 school year wrapped up. FCS not only met but exceeded 10 million minutes of reading with a total of 11,126,597 minutes!
Simmons calls the accomplishment a testament to the “creativity, consistency, and commitment” of METIs, teachers, and students.
The 10-Million Minute Reading Challenge incorporated Beanstack, an educational app and website. Students from kindergarten through 12th grade logged the number of minutes they read, with the goal of reaching 10 million minutes districtwide. As students tracked their progress, they earned badges and prizes and learned a lesson in the power of encouragement.
Heards Ferry Elementary School’s METI Sarah Severson says she saw her students grow through the experience.
“They were working together toward a common goal,” said Severson. "The students were actively engaged. Reading felt exciting, rewarding, and community driven.
WBMS METI Nan Trowell Brown and FCS Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Dr. Shannon Kersey
As a reward for meeting a monthly reading goal in March, students at Heards Ferry were greeted by the principal and assistant principal “leprechauns” dancing at drop-off. Severson says students “could not stop talking about how funny it was.”
At Cambridge High School, METI Laura Morgan stocked an arcade claw machine with prizes to motivate students to join the challenge. At Palmetto Elementary School, each student who helped meet the reading goal got to throw a water balloon at METI Brianne Norman on field day. At The Promise Career Institute, METI Lauren Mobley saw a strong response to the “Sweetheart Reading Challenge” in February, where classes faced off to log the most minutes of reading. The winning class was treated to Chick-fil-A.
Students at Webb Bridge Middle School (WBMS) took it globally, inspired by the competition’s theme of “Read More, Learn More, Be More” with a focus on the “Be More” aspect. Principal Julie Morris says she is “incredibly proud” of the role the entire school community played in the program. She added that parents, teachers, and METIs “play an essential role in shaping students’ literacy journeys.”
WBMS students logged their reading minutes to earn flocks of chicks. The chicks were sent through non-profit humanitarian organization Heifer International to help families in poverty-stricken regions build economic stability through sustainable agriculture.
WBMS METI Nan Trowell Brown says her students “fully embraced” the mission, along with another goal in mind. When they met a monthly reading goal, school administrators performed the Chicken Dance.
How could it get better than that? WBMS students logged the most minutes of all schools in the 10-Million Minute Reading Challenge at a whopping 1, 002,375 minutes. The prize was a visit from Dr. Looney, where the Silly String was unleashed as well as a trophy and banner and recognition of Nan Brown.
