Four Tennessee students will each receive a $1,000 college scholarship after winning categories in the annual Tristar Reads summer reading contest.
Students participating in the contest, organized by Tennesseans for Student Success, combined to read more than 550,000 minutes during summer break.
The overall winner was Wesley Martin, a sixth-grade homeschool student from Hamblen County. Martin said he set a goal to spend much of the summer reading, mixing books required for school with books he chose for fun.
“I really enjoy reading, and it was fun to set a high expectation this summer,” Martin said. “It feels good to reach that goal.”
The other category winners are:
- High School: Tallen Haag, a 10th-grade homeschool student from Robertson County
- Middle School: Srinehal Thumu, an eighth-grade student in Wilson County Schools
- Elementary School: Timothy Bell Jr., a third-grade student in Sumner County Schools
Each winner will receive a $1,000 college scholarship at an upcoming award ceremony.
TSS President and CEO Lana Skelo said students averaged nearly 600 more minutes of reading than participants did last year.
“Each minute represents a student who’s doing their part to avoid the summer slide and enter the new school year with a stronger foundation for success,” Skelo said.
Martin and Haag are previous winners in other categories, while Bell and Thumu are first-time Tristar Reads winners.
TSS launched Tristar Reads in 2016 to encourage Tennessee students entering kindergarten through 12th grade to read at least 20 minutes each day during summer break.
Atmos Energy and Vooks also partnered with the program to provide students with access to hundreds of digital books through a free one-year subscription.
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