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Student Announcer: Today, we are celebrating the start of literacy week here on Mondays with Maria. And now here’s our Superintendent, Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Announcer: Presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Here's OCPS Superintendent Dr. Maria Vazquez.

Dr. Vazquez: Hi everyone. Thank you for that wonderful introduction. I am so excited to announce that we are here to kick off year two of the OCPS. Let's Read Challenge. It's actually a challenge for everyone in Orange County to read a collective 50 million minutes. That's right. 50 million minutes by April 30th. And I have three incredible media specialists here. Julie Gifford from Bay Meadows Elementary, Jessica Roberts from Corner Lake Middle School, and Michael Kellen from Lake Buena Vista High School. Thank you. Welcome. Thank you.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. So excited to have you. So the three of you had great success with the challenge last year in your schools. So, what I'd like to hear is how did you get your students to read? Let's start with Ms. Gifford of Bay Meadows. What did you do?

Julie Gifford, Bay Meadows ES: Well, we kicked off the event with our glow-in-the-dark book fair, and we illuminated the front book covers with lots of black lights. And we had a balloon house, and we had music to get the parents involved. And then our PTA, they actually jumped in and gave every student a plush koala mascot. Wow. To remind them to log their minutes.

Dr. Vazquez: So you had a phenomenal kickoff that got everybody energized and excited.

Julie Gifford, Bay Meadows ES: Absolutely.

Dr. Vazquez: Super. Ms. Roberts, tell us about how you got the students to read at Corner Lake Middle.

Jessica Roberts, Corner Lake MS: Absolutely. We also had our book fair at the beginning of the challenge. It just worked out that way, and that's always motivating for them. Plus, I go on the announcements every single week, sometimes twice a week, to remind them to log their minutes. And I have a YouTube channel where we first chapter Friday. Oh. And so sometimes I can get the language arts teachers to play that on Fridays in their class. And just persistence, reminding, reminding.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. I needed reminders as well. So, I feel that Mr. Kellen, at the high school level, what did you do to get our high schoolers to read?

Michael Kellen, Lake Buena Vista HS: Yeah, so high schoolers are very busy. They're in athletics, they're in extracurriculars. Some of them are working. And so, it does take a lot of reminding, reminding, and reminding. And it really is a team effort at Lake Buena Vista to get the teachers on board and the admin, and just constant promotion. I was emailing the staff weekly on updates on how we were doing in the standings as the district released the numbers, and just constant reminders.

Dr. Vazquez: Right. So that competition, I'm sure, was a motivator for the high schoolers.

Michael Kellen, Lake Buena Vista HS: Yeah, absolutely. We picked out a rival high school in a couple of weeks after the competition, or the challenge started, and made it a competition. It's not really a competition, but we made it a competition on campus. So, that motivated a lot of teachers and students to log those minutes. 

Dr. Vazquez: So it's a great week to kick off this initiative because it's literacy week. So we talked a little bit about the reminders. How difficult was it to get the students to log their minutes on Beanstack? I, myself, had to put a reminder on my phone. And so how was it with the students?

Julie Gifford, Bay Meadows ES: Well, with our students at Bay Meadows, they initially needed a lot of reminders. However, once they learned all the gamification features in Beanstack, such as earning the digital badges, Oh, yes. Or even the friends feature, where they could invite their friends, and they could show them their reading stats or even share book reviews, and just started to blossom with their motivation, and then they took ownership of their own reading journey.

Dr. Vazquez: That's great. That's exciting. How about at Corner Lake? I, me, I know you mentioned a little bit about having to be persistent.

Jessica Roberts, Corner Lake MS: Persistence. Yeah, that's my middle name. I like what you said, too. I'm going to encourage my kids to do, to do book reviews this year. So, thank you for reminding me about that feature. Yeah, exactly. I would, I would also encourage the teachers and teach them how I would go to a PLC or a meeting, and teach them how to log their class minutes so they can do an entire class. At one time, to take that off their plate instead, you know, because there's a kid that's not going to remember to log their minutes, but they did read. And so, I think a lot of it is knowing that you can count minutes, that isn't necessarily just sitting down with a book. Like if you're reading for class, you're reading a history text, or you're reading for ELA, it counts. And audiobooks count. And I had to kind of develop that mindset with the kids that an eBook on Sora counts. An audiobook counts as reading at school, and I know that we are reading; we just need to be able to count those minutes. 

Dr. Vazquez: Right, that accountability piece. So, Mr. Kellen, what did you do to make sure those minutes were logged?

Michael Kellen, Lake Buena Vista HS: I put an email out Monday saying, here's the newest update of the numbers, and here's where we stand for that rivalry piece, like we were talking. And then the other part is on Friday. Hey, what did you read this week? Don't forget, give me those numbers. And then I would log the minutes for the teachers because they're busy and they have other things to do than log the minutes themselves sometimes. So, if I could help them in that way, we would.

Dr. Vazquez: Yeah. It's everybody working together. And that's what I love about the challenge. So, if you would like to participate, all you have to do is create an account on Beanstack. Anyone can do it. The website is right here on the screen. We're also thrilled to have the support of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer and Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. Take a look.

Mayor Buddy Dyer: Hi, I'm Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer City of Orlando is excited to help OCPS reach 50 million minutes in reading. As Mayor of Orlando, I pledge my support and challenge everyone in the city to take part. Let's help Orange County Public Schools meet the goal again this year. Let's read Orlando!

Mayor Jerry Demings: Orange County is proud to join OCPS in the Let's Read Challenge once again this year. We're excited to help you reach the new goal of 50 million minutes by April 30th. There is no better way to help a child reach success than to help them acquire the love of reading. Let's read Orange County!

Dr. Vazquez: Thank you, Mayor Dyer and Mayor Demings, for your support of our challenge. We want everyone to join. Thank you all for being here. It's been great to have you on the show. Good luck and much success in this year's challenge. 50 million minutes. Thank you all for watching. Don't forget to like, follow, and subscribe. We will have more of our conversation on our podcast. Just go to wherever you get your podcast and search for Mondays with Maria. Have a great week.

Student announcer: Hey, OCPS students. Have you heard about the new Reading Challenge? Let's read OCPS. The Let's Read OCPS challenge runs from January 26th to April 30th, 2026. Students, teachers, and families can participate by logging into Bean Stack and launch bed and logging the number of minutes you read every single day. Reading is a great way to relax, learn, and grow. So make sure to participate in the, let's read OCPS challenge. Log your minutes today and help your school win. You might even win something too. Let's read OCPS!

Announcer: For an extended conversation on today's topic. Listen to the Mondays with Maria podcast. Available wherever you get your podcasts. Mondays with Maria is presented by Addition Financial Credit Union. Count us in for every step of your financial journey. Learn more at AdditionFi.com. For more OCPS news and information, visit TheSlice.ocps.net. I'm your announcer. Emily Hannon, a student at Audubon Park School. Thanks for watching, and have a great week.