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MAS students force Principal Challenge by blowing past 100,000-minute reading goal

A person dressed in a yellow SpongeBob costume is interacting with a group of children in a classroom setting, with various educational materials and equipment visible in the background.

Mamaroneck Avenue Elementary School students exceeded their schoolwide Pick a Reading Partner (PARP) goal of 100,000 reading minutes by more than double, so Principal Rob Janowitz and Assistant Principal Brendan McCarthy completed this year's student-submitted Principal Challenge. The challenge? Mr. Janowitz and Mr. McCarthy had to dance to “Big Guy,” by Ice Spice while dressed as SpongeBob and Patrick in front of the entire school at an assembly last Friday.

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PARP is an annual reading challenge at MAS, where students are encouraged to read for at least 20 minutes a day outside of school with a parent or reading partner. The challenge promotes a love for learning and literacy, while incentivizing students to read more with their friends and family to reach the schoolwide goal. Students read over 240,000 minutes during the two-week challenge!

Throughout the challenge, MAS held spirit days and fun reading activities to continue encouraging students to read. These included a Family Reading Night and days for reading to their pets or stuffed animals and their favorite music or instrument.

A large group of children gathered in a school gymnasium, with a large screen displaying a colorful cartoon character and several adults standing in the foreground.

MAS also did outreach during PARP for donations to the Kol Ami Food Bank, which services hundreds of families weekly in the White Plains community. Students brought food donations to school to help make a difference in their community. 

The MAS PTA raised money during PARP to support students at MAS, and they exceeded their goal of $30,000 by over $10,000. In past years, money raised during PARP has been used by the PTA to support the Spring Carnival Celebration and installing new playground equipment. 

Classes with the highest reading minutes were announced for each grade after Mr. Janowitz and Mr. McCarthy made their entrance, and students jumped and cheered with their classmates as the winners were announced.

Winning Classes: 

  • Kindergarten: Ms. Amato; Ms. Richmond/Ms. Bailey; Mr.Stark
  • Grade 1: Ms. Varughese, Mittenzwei/Mr.Carnaghi and Ms. Turner
  • Grade 2: Ms. Eglauf, Mr. Reale
  • Grade 3: Ms. Novielli and Ms. Bowman
  • Grade 4: Ms. Pagliari, Ms. Alibrandi and Ms. Capobianco
  • Grade 5: Ms. Williams, Ms. Wilson and Mr. McNamara
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