Culture & Education | Friday 8 May, 2015 2:31 am |

For the second year Jeddah Private School launches its unique reading development program the “Reading Challenge” witnessing a participation of over 83 students from grades 1 through 10. The program, part of the school library and reading development, encouraged students to read Arabic and English non-curriculum related books keep a daily log of books read, and share brief summaries of the stories during their weekly library sessions. The program culminated during the month of April and a finale event was hosted at the school presenting the participating students with their certificates of participation and medals. Special commendation token gifts were presented to students that had read over 15 books and the winning class was awarded the 2015 Reading Challenge trophy.

1,158 books were read during the Reading Challenge period with English books totaling 800 and 358 Arabic books. The third grade girls class were awarded the trophy for reading a total of 324 books, the highest amongst all participating classes.

The Reading Challenge became very popular and students were engaged in reading and keeping their logbooks updated. The program was designed to attract the interest of students by rewarding them at the end of the program.

The response by the students in taking part in the non-compulsory program, which was organized and supervised by the school librarian Ms. Sameeha Al Bahlouli, was phenomenal.,. To further encourage students, participation special reading sessions were hosted in the library and every student that read was awarded a program certificate. Students that read 10 books or more by the program deadline also received program medals. Token gifts of bookmarks were presented to all students that read 15 books or more.

Special recognition for top student readers:
Grade 1 Boys: Sadeq Ehab Al Balaa (99 books)
Grade 4: Loulwah Badr BinHimd (45 books)
Grade 9: Lama Saleh Al Wadei (25 books)




Reading Challenge Winners – 2015: Grade 3 Girls:
Amna Mohamed Yaghmour (18 books), Lana Wajdi Sindi (6 books), Amna Mohamed AlShareef (4 books), Basma Ahmed AlNamlah (8 books), Joumanah AlMoutasem Elyas (24 books), Joory Hani Dabour (16 books) Jood Hani Dabour (37 books), Dania Bandar AlRoubaian (21 books), Dima Saeed Ozaiman (38 books), Salma Nizar Alem (27 books), Ghala Khaled Al Dahlawi (12 books), Layan Majdi Mandourah (47 books), Leena Hajjaj Al Thenayan (24 books), Manar Al Baraa Suleimani (21 books) and Haya Rami Abu Ghazaleh (21 books).

“This is our second year hosting such a dynamic program and we were proud of the students achievements and avid participation of many of the parents that encouraged their children to take part. The feedback was outstanding and many families turned it into a family activity discussing books at home with their children.” commented Mrs. Leila Sabbah Tahlawi, Jeddah Private School Founder and Principal. “Such programs are key in the development vocabulary growth and broadening students’ horizons. The discussion groups also held open opportunities for students to see things from a different perspective and discuss other viewpoints.”

Jeddah Private School (JPS) is one of the oldest Saudi private schools in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Mrs. Laila Sabbah Tahlawi founded JPS Girls in 1980 and JPS Boys in 1981, as an Arabic Medium Private Day School. JPS is a unique institution that offers a dynamic combination of tradition and innovation. As a dual-language (Arabic-English) international school, it uses the best practices of available educational systems. The school provides academic rigor in a nurturing environment. JPS aspires that its students will typically find themselves well placed to attend the finest universities throughout the world.