Friday, May 11, 2007 1:12 AM CDT
Grade school reader's 2,700 books set record
By DAVE FOPAY, Staff Writer
dfopay@jg-tc.com
CHARLESTON — Anticipating the ending of a good mystery has led many a reader to cling to the story till the end, and Kamae Coffey is no exception.
She counts mysteries as her favorite kind of book, and it’s part of what’s fueled a passion for reading that helped her to read about 2,700 books over the last three years.
Oh, by the way: She’s in third grade.
The Carl Sandburg Elementary School student has easily set a record while participating in the “Reading Counts” program that has been in place at the school for about 20 years. The students earn points for answering questions about the books they read, and Kamae’s total of more than 5,700 points during her three years at the school easily tops the previous record of about 3,000.
“I learned to read before I was in kindergarten,” Kamae said. “I’ve always loved to read.”
Her list of favorite books that she read for the program include mysteries like “The Box Car Children” series.
“I just like the suspense,” she said. “It’s so intense.”
Carl Sandburg Librarian Pam Storm said Kamae’s managed to read every book on the “Reading Counts” book list, something no other student’s done, and added about another 20 books during her time at the school. She said Kamae managed it by working on the reading list every day since first grade.
“She just stayed steady,” Storm said. “She seems to be self-motivated. Very few students have that dedication.”
Kamae said she decided in January to try to read every book on the program’s list. She often read three books each night and four on weekends until she got to some more advanced reading, but then still kept a pace of one or two each night and three on weekends.
“There were some really hard books,” she said.
When she in first grade, she just wanted to be highest on the program list. Then, she thought she’d try to have 2,006 books read by the end of the year 2006 and finally her dad suggested that she try to read every book on the program’s list.
Her sister Karly, who’s in first grade at Carl Sandburg, is already in second place in “Reading Counts” points among students now at the school, and Storm said the two girls are the only two who’ve topped 1,000 points in the program. Their parents, Chris and Angie Coffey, frequently get books at the library for the girls to read and Mrs. Coffey volunteers at the school library.
“I don’t know what those parents do, but we’d like to bottle it,” Storm said.
Storm said Carl Sandburg students probably average about 300 to 500 points during their three years in the “Reading Counts” program, which equals about 75 to 100 books.
Contact Dave Fopay at dfopay@jg-tc.com or 348-5733.
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 Ken Trevarthan (JG/T-C)
Carl Sandburg Elementary School third-grader Kamae Coffey is pictured at the school in Charleston with a couple of her favorite mysteries from among the 2,700 books she has read during her almost three years as a Sandburg student.
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Brad wrote on May 11, 2007 9:27 AM: