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NCAA kicking off Readers Become Leaders challenge for Indy third graders

Readers Become Leaders pep rally with NCAA, IUPUI

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The NCAA is kicking off another year of the Readers Become Leaders challenge for Indy-area third graders on Monday with a pep rally and a field trip to an IUPUI basketball game.

More than 3,000 Indy-area third and fourth graders are invited to the event, the NCAA said in a release.

“Readers Become Leaders” is an annual program the NCAA hosts with IUPUI that focuses on the importance of reading in school and how reading can help young learners as they grow and go through life.

Monday’s IUPUI men’s basketball game against Kentucky’s Spalding University will be the very first NCAA game of the college basketball season.

Students at the game will receive a gift pack that includes a drawstring bag, pom-poms, and a bookmark.

The game begins at 11 a.m. at the Indiana State Fairgrounds.

I Love to Read Challenge returns

WISH-TV and the NCAA have partnered for another I Love to Read Challenge.

The challenge is designed to encourage a love of reading in Indianapolis third graders at a time when students are developmentally adapting from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.”

Click here to learn more about the I Love to Read Challenge champion for 2023, Mrs. Kimberly Barnes’ class from Irvington Elementary School in Indianapolis. Mrs. Barnes’ class read an average of 17 hours and 42 minutes per student in the final round!

To participate in the I Love to Read challenge, email Allan Haw at allan.haw@wishtv.com.

The I Love to Read Challenge encourages a love of reading in Indy-area third graders. (WISH graphic)