Frisbees are a favorite outside toy for many children, and therefore are coveted as prizes by students in the Accelerated Reader program at School Street Elementary School in Bradford.
Consequently, when School Street librarian Melissa Cornelius realized she had run out of Frisbees for the AR program this year, and couldn’t find any good replacements at local retailers, she reached out to an unlikely source — Northwest Bank.
The bank, which has several branches in the area, came through with the request by providing 100 bright green Frisbees that will serve as prizes for one category of points in the program.
Cornelius said AR promotes reading for third- through fifth-grade students by asking them to complete a simple computer quiz after reading a book.
“The quiz gives you points, and our school gives prizes for the points,” Cornelius explained. “Most of the prizes are paid for by the PTO, or from out of (the instructors’) pockets.”
Other prizes include having lunch with the principal after earning 100 points or hanging out with the superintendent for the day when 1,000 points are accrued. Smaller prizes are also awarded for fewer points.
“The prize for 30 points is Frisbees, but we ran out of them and couldn’t find good quality Frisbees anywhere,” Cornelius remarked. “We started looking over the summer, but couldn’t find good ones.”
She said one company they tried to purchase from sent samples that were “cheap, flimsy and fell apart.”
When Cornelius proposed finding another prize to replace the Frisbee, a number of children became upset because they really like the circular pieces of plastic that are thrown between people.
Cornelius said she heard about Northwest’s promotional Frisbees through fifth grade teacher Celia Means, whose husband, Brandon, is office manager for the East Main Street branch in Foster Brook.
“He said, ‘Absolutely, we’ll get you 100 Frisbees,’ which will be enough for this whole school year,” she said of Brandon Means’ response.
Brandon Means said the bank is happy to help any program that promotes education for children.
“The bank is always interested in helping out where we can in the community,” he said. “Especially when it’s encouraging kids to read.”
He said the business recently changed its logo and brand to read “Northwest” which is now printed on all of the bank’s items, including signs and promotional materials.
Students who commented on the program included fifth grade student Emilie Compton, who said she liked winning a bouncy ball as a prize.
Another fifth grade student, Cadence Stiles, said she also liked the prizes, but enjoyed winning privileges through the program.
“One of my favorite prizes is to be the king or queen for the day in class,” Stiles said. “You get to put on a (crown) and people have to listen you.”
That prize is received for 120 points earned, and students can decide if they want homework for the day or not.
Another fifth grader, Leila Bines, said she enjoys winning “Timbit” doughnut holes from the Tim Hortons restaurant for a prize, but has also developed a love of reading.
“My personal favorite (book) would be “Wonder” which is a book about a kid named August who has a disease and people made fun of him because of his face,” she said. “At the end, people started liking him a lot more.”
