Winners of state reading competition honored

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A third-grader from Darlington and a fourth-grader from Greenville have been named the winners of the S.C. Department of Education’s 2019 Read Your Way to the Big Game contest, a reading competition promoting literacy through the University of South Carolina and Clemson University athletic programs.

The contest began with the start of college football season. All pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students who read six books qualified to win four tickets and sideline passes to Saturday’s Clemson vs. South Carolina game at Williams-Brice Stadium. Two students, one reading for the Gamecocks and one for the Tigers, were selected at random as the overall winners.  

Tristan Flynn, a third grade student at Brunson-Dargan Elementary School in the Darlington County School District, was named USC’s winner, while Neimar Pascual, a fourth grade student at Monaview Elementary School in the Greenville County School District, was named Clemson’s winner.

The students will join S.C. Superintendent of Education Molly Spearman on the field prior to Saturday's game for a special presentation. Both students also received signed letters from Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and South Carolina coach Will Muschamp.

Participating teachers, media specialists and schools were eligible for monetary prizes ranging from $500 to $2,000, with schools with at least 70% student participation entered to win $2,000 in school library grants.

The library grant winners are Olanta Creative Arts and Science Magnet School in Florence School District Three and Woodland Heights Elementary School in Spartanburg School District Six.

Additionally, five participating teachers received $500 for their classrooms. Those randomly selected winners are: Megan Bouknight of Green Charter School of the Midlands in the South Carolina Public Charter School District; Kerri Loadholt of Ben Hazel Primary School in Hampton School District One; Cassondra Moore of Seneca Middle School in the School District of Oconee County; Asia Ponds of McBee Elementary School in the Chesterfield County School District; and Bethany Tanner of Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville.