At Beanstack, we are committed to helping students develop a lifelong love for reading. To support schools in building this culture of reading in their community, the Reading Culture Awards recognize and reward schools as they increase student engagement throughout the year.
As schools climb the ranks toward Trailblazer status, they’ll earn new digital badges and certificates for each milestone. Read on to learn more about each status, download your school’s digital awards, and discover tips to help inspire both staff and students.
As a Newcomer...
Your school is still warming up to Beanstack and has yet to achieve 10% student participation—but never fear! Our data-driven best practices will help drive student engagement and move your school one step closer to Spark and Igniter status—and that $25 gift card.
Tips to Reach Spark Status
- Set a Community Goal: create a realistic, yet challenging goal to motivate your entire community.
- Foster the Spirit of Friendly Competition: run a reading challenge to spark friendly competition at the classroom, grade, and school level.
- Provide Recognition and Incentives: tie prizes or rewards, such as bookmarks or candy, to reading milestones in your community.
As a Spark...
Your school is still new to Beanstack, but you've reached 10% student participation, and that's something to celebrate! Keep following our best practices to keep the momentum going, and click here to download your school’s digital Spark badge and certificate.
Tip to Reach Igniter Status: Rewards don’t have to be elaborate to be effective. A simple shout-out in morning announcements, digital badges, or a classroom celebration can make all the difference in keeping students engaged.
As an Igniter...
Your school has achieved 25% student participation! You have successfully lit a flame in your community, and students are getting on board. Our team will be in touch to award the $25 gift card. Here are a few ways this award could be used to celebrate reading at your school:
- Add New Incentives to Your Next Challenge: even small prizes such as stickers, bookmarks, a piece of candy, or a donut hole party can motivate students to read those extra minutes.
- Ignite Your Reading Culture: invite students to vote on a new book they’d like to see in the library and highlight your new addition.
- Invest in Your Library: encourage students to write book reviews for their favorite titles in Beanstack and showcase these on your library bulletin board with fun stickers or decorations.
Celebrate this milestone by downloading your school’s digital Igniter badge and certificate, and review the tips below to continue building momentum.
Tip to Reach Pathfinder Status: In addition to our data-driven best practices, encourage teachers to remind classes to log their reading. You may even want to create a teacher and staff reading challenge to help them engage with Beanstack.
As a Pathfinder...
Your school has achieved 50% student participation and is well on its way to achieving Trailblazer status and being entered into our monthly prize drawing! Review the tips below to reach that final step, and click here to download your school’s digital Pathfinder badge and certificate.
Tip to Reach Trailblazer Status: Encourage school-wide engagement by recognizing top classes and readers whenever possible—through morning announcements, school newsletters, library bulletin boards, or all of the above! To learn more about other best practices in Beanstack, check out this article from our team.
As a Trailblazer...
Your school has achieved 75% student participation—congratulations! Your school is absolutely on fire, and we’re thrilled to celebrate this milestone. If your school has just reached Trailblazer status, you'll automatically be entered into our monthly prize drawing for Trailblazer schools. In the meantime, click here to download your digital Trailblazer badge and certificate!
New This Year: Monthly Trailblazer Drawing
From August through June, all schools that reach Trailblazer status and those that maintain 75% student participation will be automatically entered into a monthly prize drawing.
Each month, we’ll award:
- 10 schools with $100 gift cards
- 1 grand prize winner with $1,000 and a box of Benny plushies to help your community celebrate in style.
Whether you just hit the milestone or are holding strong, Trailblazers with 75% or more participation each month will stay in the pool for the drawing until they win a prize.
And remember, keep reading!