News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 17, 2003
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Kim Schmanke, Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, 360-725-6015

Gov. Gary Locke, Superintendent of Public Instruction Honor Highline School as November ‘Reading School of the Month’

Gov. Gary Locke and Terry Bergeson, state superintendent of public instruction, today presented Southern Heights Elementary School in Seattle with the “Reading School of the Month” award for November 2003. Southern Heights is part of the Highline School District.

“Reading is the foundation of all academic success,” Locke told the students. “No matter what you want to be when you grow up, you have to start by being a good reader. I am so proud of all the progress the students at Southern Heights have made in reading.”

Fourth grade students at Southern Heights Elementary scored above the state average in both reading and mathematics on the 2002-03 Washington Assessment of Student Learning (WASL). Nearly 60 percent of the students at Southern Heights participate in the state’s free or reduced price lunch program.

“You should be very proud of the hard work that has led to more students learning how to read,” Bergeson said. “Schools selected for this honor do more than just increase their reading test scores. They demonstrate a commitment to providing a high-quality education to all of their students, regardless of challenges like poverty or high-mobility. Southern Heights Elementary has been making these great strides.”

Miss Washington 2003 Fianna Dickson also attended the event to talk about the importance of reading.

Locke and Bergeson also read “I’m Gonna Like Me” by Jamie Lee Curtis and Laura Cornell to an all-school assembly and presented an autographed copy of the book to the school librarian.

The governor and the superintendent started the “Reading School of the Month” program in January 2002 to raise awareness about the importance of reading and learn how struggling schools made drastic changes to become exemplary reading schools.

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Related links: www.schoolofthemonth.org; www.governor.wa.gov; www.k12.wa.us; www.misswashington.org





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