At Beanstack, we are committed to helping students develop a life-long love for reading. To support schools in building this culture of reading in their community, the Reading Culture Trailblazer Award is granted to schools with over 75% of their students logging reading in Beanstack each school year. This year, winners received a digital badge, a certificate, and a $100 gift card - redeemable at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Papa John’s, Dunkin, Target, or Walmart. Winners also may choose to donate the funds to a charity of their choice.
We also recognize that growing a strong reading culture cannot happen overnight, and we want to reward schools for their progress every step of the way! When you reach Igniter status, with 25% or more of your students logging reading in Beanstack, you’ll receive a $25 gift card. As you climb the ranks toward Trailblazer status, you'll earn new digital badges and certificates for each milestone. Read on to learn more about each status, download your digital awards, and discover tips to help inspire you and your students.
As a Newcomer...
Your school is still warming up to Beanstack and has yet to achieve 25% student participation—but never fear! Our data-driven best practices will help you drive student engagement at your school and get you one step closer to Igniter status—and that $25 gift card.
Tips to Reach Igniter 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 an Igniter...
Your school has achieved 25% student participation! You have successfully lit a flame in your community and your students are getting on board. We will be in touch to award you your $25 gift card. Here are a couple of ways you could use your $25 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 your students to read those extra minutes.
- Ignite Your Reading Culture: invite your students to vote on a new book that 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 your award by downloading your digital Igniter badge and certificate, and review the tips below to continue building on this momentum.
Tip to Reach Pathfinder Status: In addition to our data-driven best practices, try encouraging 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! You are well on your way to achieving Trailblazer status and winning that $100 gift card. Review the tips below to reach that final step, and click here to download your digital Pathfinder badge and certificate.
Tip to Reach Trailblazer Status: Engage your whole school by providing recognition for your top classes and readers as possible—in morning announcements, school newsletters, library bulletin boards, and 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 are thrilled to celebrate this achievement with you. If you have just reached Trailblazer status, we will be in touch to award you your $100 gift card, and in the meantime click here to download your digital Trailblazer badge and certificate.
And remember, keep reading!