Reading 2597 books in six weeks is a tall order, but students from Dubbo Christian School (DCS) did just that to raise money for a very worthy cause.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Students participated in the MS Read-a-thon, raising $3487 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society of NSW.
DCS was one of three schools in the State to read the most books and was awarded $1000 in honour of their efforts by the Commonwealth Bank, which sponsors the MS Read-a-thon.
Year 4 student Catherine Hicks read 133 books and raised $200 in the read-a-thon, the highest amount raised by any student at the school.
"I normally read a lot of books," Catherine said.
"I read mostly novels for the read-a-thon, and I read all the books on my book shelf and a lot of the ones from my brother's and sister's too."
Dubbo branch manager of the Commonwealth Bank John Howell and assistant branch manager Natalie Podreka presented the prize cheque for $1000 to Catherine and DCS principal Robb Sheerman at a school assembly yesterday.
Mr Sheerman then announced the school would donate the money back to the cause through the local MS support group.
Year 2 student Gabrielle Armstrong read 152 books, the most for the school, while Year 1 student Rebekah Lovegrove read 111 books and classmate Stephanie Webster raised $128.
"Our school policy is that each class have a charity they contribute to," he said.
, and the message we try and pass on to our students is that you don't do it to benefit yourself or to win prizes, you do it purely to help someone less fortunate."
From April 8 to May 17 nearly 10,000 people participated in the MS Read-a-thon raising over $700,000, and many students from DCS volunteered to be involved, even if it was not their class charity.
Year two student Gabrielle Armstrong read 152 books and the most books for the school and year one students Rebekah Lovegrove and Stephanie Webster read 111 books and raised $128 respectively.
Mr Sheerman was extremely proud to receive the award on behalf of the school and said his student's efforts were "tremendous".