Pasadena Independent School District

Pasadena ISD staff, faculty and administrators know that being a lifelong reader is crucial to a student’s success, both in school and beyond — which is why they are launching the #pisdREADS initiative — to build, promote and sustain a district-wide culture of reading.

“Over time we hope to foster a sense of joy around reading, guiding students beyond skill acquisition to the realization that reading impacts and enriches all aspects of daily life,” said Christine Van Hamersveld, PISD director of libraries and instructional materials.

The initiative encourages staff, students and parents to embrace and incorporate reading into their daily routine via books they have selected for themselves.

“Practice makes permanent,” said Scott Harrell, PISD executive director of leadership and learning. “But it’s not enough to simply develop these habits among our students. What we need is a community groundswell to rise up from this initiative — where staff, students and parents are all involved — sharing the excitement they have for the books they are reading, and spreading the joy of reading to all those around them.”

Incorporating all current and future reading initiatives or programs that exist throughout the district, #pisdREAD’s goal is for all students to be reading at or above their grade level throughout their time in PISD.

“The ability to read on grade level throughout a student’s school career is critical to every student’s academic success,” said Melissa Rippy, PISD library services specialist. “When students feel good about their reading ability, they will continue to read for pleasure as they grow into adults.”

Current PISD reading incentive programs include:

• Accelerated Reader (AR) campus program
• Name That Book (grades K-12)
• Battle of the Books (grades K-12)
• 3 Million Minute Reading Challenge for Elementary
• Bluebonnet (grades 3-6)
• Extreme Reading Challenge (grades 7-8)
• High Schools – graduation cord based on # of pages read
• Tweens Read annual festival (grades 5-8)
• Little Free Libraries (grades PreK-12/community)
• Summer Libraries/Summer Reading (grades PreK-12)
  • Campus level reading celebrations in fall
  • District level reading celebration in fall (IT’Z pizza)