By Molly Seales

On Tuesday, March 1, Riverdale Academy sent 32 students with 20 projects to the District Reading Fair in West Monroe, LA. These students all placed 1^st or 2^nd at the local reading fair at Riverdale. This year Riverdale had a record 17 projects advance to the Overall Reading Fair in Pearl, Mississippi, on April 7. At overall, our students will compete against all classes of MSAIS schools. The last time we were able to attend the Overall Reading Fair (before Covid) Matthew Seales, Ally Kate Hillman and Summer Rushing brought home first place, making history and putting Riverdale in contention as a force to be reckoned with.

All of the 1^st and 2^nd place finishers at district move on to overall. Students and their placings for elementary were 1^stgrade – PJ Guidry-3^rd place in fiction; 3^rd grade – Kylie Davis-2^nd place in fiction, Caden Spradley-1^st place in non-fiction, Milton Guidry and Benton Yount – 1^st place in group non-fiction, Dally Bell and Hope Williamson – 1^st place in group fiction; 4^th grade – Lane Mancil – 3^rd place non-fiction, Morgan Moseley – 3^rd place fiction, Trevor Bell – 2^ndplace fiction, Addisyn Giddings and Ellie Reese Hillman – 1^st place group fiction; 5^th grade – Ryder Shaver – 1^st place non-fiction; 6^th grade – Madelyn Chamberlin, Kaleigh Pickett, and Emma Youngblood – 2^nd place in group fiction and Hayden Cason, Jackson Hillman, and Kaden McNeely – 1^st place in group non-fiction.

In the junior high and high school categories, every Riverdale project advanced to overall. Junior High winners were  Harleigh Lefler – 1^st fiction, Ben Moseley – 1^st non-fiction, Layken Gates – 2^nd non-fiction, Alissa Curry and Krista Mancil – 1^st group fiction, Abbie Jowers and Allie Murphy – 2^nd group fiction, Ally Kate Hillman and Lexi Mancil – 1^st place group non-fiction, and Alaina Boyd and Ayla Knotts – 2^nd non-fiction.  In the high school division, Georgia Carlisle and Emily Nettles placed 1^st in group non-fiction.

Reading fair sponsor, Bethany Seales, told me, “I am so very proud of all of the students who competed in the local and district reading far. I am a strong believer that readers are leaders. Reading fair this year was not mandatory for any grades. The students who participated are to be commended for their hard work and dedication to academics. I would like to give a huge thank you to the parents of these students who have provided transportation for them and are instilling in their children the importance of reading. I’m really looking forward to seeing them compete at overall.” Judging will be in Pearl, MS on April 7^th.

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