April 25, 2025 - Collectively, the third-grade students at Freiheit Elementary School read 425,707 minutes during the Read to the Final Four contest, advancing to the Sweet 16 bracket in the tournament-style challenge.
Sponsored by the NCAA for area schools in the city which hosts the college tournament, this was the first year for Comal ISD to participate with great results. In addition to Freiheit’s success, two Comal ISD students from Clear Spring Elementary School made the top 10 readers list during the contest’s Holiday Hoopla Reading Tournament with Dovey Schrupp reading 3,960 minutes and Jaselle Torres reading 3,868 minutes from December 23 through January 5.
“This challenge really got students excited about reading,” says Sandra Plumb, librarian at FES, “and it got them talking about reaching a goal for the good of the group. As a result of our participation, we saw students reading more, checking out more books from the library and getting excited about reading.”
Every elementary campus in Comal ISD participated in the reading challenge which had third-grade students read from November 4 through December 15. When it came down to qualifying for the bracket challenge, four Comal ISD teams reached the top 32 out of the 306 that participated from across the San Antonio area. Those four schools are Farias-Spitzer Elementary, Indian Springs Elementary, CSESandFES.
By the end of the contest, Comal ISD third graders read for a total of 1,966,759 minutes, which truly proves its success.
Congratulations!
Photo descriptions
-The third grade from Freiheit Elementary School was recognized during the Comal ISD Board of Trustees meeting April 24 for advancing to the Sweet 16 of the Read to the Final Four challenge. Four students, their teachers and librarian represented the team.
-Freiheit Elementary students enjoyed a reading picnic outside during the Read to the Final Four challenge.
-The Clear Spring Elementary third grade advanced to the top 32 teams in the Read to the Final Four challenge.
-The Freiheit Elementary third grade advanced to the Sweet 16 teams in the Read to the Final Four challenge.
-The Farias-Spitzer Elementary third grade advanced to the top 32 teams in the Read to the Final Four challenge.
-The Indian Springs Elementary third grade advanced to the top 32 teams in the Read to the Final Four challenge.