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 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—which can be used to recognize student achievement, host a celebration, or purchase supplies to support reading engagement. Schools may also 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 a school reaches Igniter status, with 25% or more of its students logging reading in Beanstack, it will receive a $25 gift card. 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 25% student participation—but never fear! Our data-driven best practices will help drive student engagement and move your school 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 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 winning that $100 gift card. 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, our team will reach out to the designated point of contact to send the $100 gift card. In the meantime, click here to download your digital Trailblazer badge and certificate!
And remember, keep reading!