Second grade class at Glenn Marshall wins state 'READBowl' Championship
Mar. 1—A class of Glenn Marshall second graders is prepping the sparkling grape juice for a classroom celebration after being crowned 2024 READBowl champions.
The seventh annual competition was held from January 8 (the day of the College Football National Championship Game) through Super Bowl Sunday, which was held on February 11.
Heather Fain was the teacher and orchestrator that helped her second graders win the state title. Out of all the primary grades (Kindergarten through 2nd grade), 'Fain's Seconders' as they went by in the competition logged the most minutes out of any team in their division.
"Winning a state championship is always prestigious," said former Super Bowl Champion and children's author Malcom Mitchell in the release. "However this year is especially notable, as there were more than 280,000 students, from all 50 states and 14 countries on the reading field for the big game this year. I am so proud of every student who competed and congratulate our state and national champions."
As Mitchell said, this was a global competition, a competition he helped put together. "Read with Malcom" is Mitchell's Youth Literacy Initiative.
Mitchell struggled to read throughout his time in school and into his tenure at the University of Georgia where he played with several future NFL stars like Nick Chubb and Roquan Smith. Mitchell, retired in 2019 due to a troublesome knee injury, has made it his mission to reach kids and help them read to a better future.
"Overall, students from across the globe read for more than 180 million minutes during READBowl 2024," the release said.
Fain could not believe that her class bested everyone in their division, it was their first year.
"I was super surprised, I didn't say anything for a couple days because I was like 'are you sure?'," she said.
Then the press release came out. It was confirmed they won in the state's primary division.
It was Fain's goal to get her class excited about reading. This is why she wanted to take part in the event. As mentioned earlier, this was the class's first time participated in the event.
Her class celebrated on Friday with a party that lasted the whole school day.
Congratulations to Heather Fain and her class!
