Clarksville, TN – Clarksville Kiwanis Club’s Larry Schmidt greeted folks at the F&M Bank Arena entrance for this year’s Kiwanis Reading Rodeo, an event that gave every CMCSS 3rd-grade student a chance to meet author Chris Grabenstien and receive a copy of his latest book.
“We are hosting 3,300 3rd graders from CMCSS and a couple of local private schools,
Schmidt said. “We took our Reading is Fundamental program to the next level. Chris Grabenstein is from Clarksville. And for the last two years, we’ve had him here at F&M Bank Arena.”
This event is a Kiwanis International top-10 finalists for best service project in the world. Schmidt continued, “The kids enjoy this. Chris’s work is very entertaining, and we get amazingly positive feedback from the families.”
Kiwanis has been giving books away for about 40 years. CMCSS sees the value of this annual event and provides the transportation. Schmidt says it’s vital that students can read on grade level by the 3rd grade, pointing out that, “after a certain point you’re reading to learn, not learning to read.”
CMCSS’s Anthony Johnson said, “We’re really excited to be here today. This is the second year we’ve done this at the Arena. We are able to get all the 3rd graders, over 3,000 from across the district, in one place where they get to meet a real successful children’s book author. They get to hear his story and get a copy of his book to read. This is a great time to encourage reading for these kids.”
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