Pearl River Central Upper Elementary School staff used a short skit to hype up students for the accelerated reader program this year. The skit was held in the school’s auditorium Thursday afternoon, and included some of the PRCUE administration. It also gave the students a chance to win prizes, leading to energetic shouts from the elementary students as they learned about the AR program.

The program encourages students in 3rd, 4th and 5th grades to read by earning points when they complete books and take quizzes throughout the year. The more the students read, the more points they get to pick prizes that range from a Nintendo Switch console to a robotic minion.

“Kids won’t want to do anything that isn’t fun, so showing them the fun side of reading is something we try to do every year,” Darlene Hall, PRCUE principal, said.

This year is what Hall calls the royal year, which is the theme of the AR program this year. Next year’s program will be super hero themed.

To go along with the royal theme, Hall and a couple other PRCUE staff members performed a skit that involved the story “The Queen’s Feet,” written by Sarah Ellis.

Once the skit was over, the kids were shown how they can earn prizes by reading.

“We want to show the kids that reading is fun, they just have to know how to set their minds free, understand what they are reading and be engaged in the text,” Hall said.

At the end of Thursday’s event, the AR program kicked off, and each PRCUE student looked excited to pick up their books and begin their reading assignments.

At the end of the year, a reading assessment will be conducted so 3rd graders can advance to the next grade. Hall said the program should help these students do well on the assessment.