When Reading Becomes an Adventure: Inside Our Annual Readathon
Each winter, at The Phoenix School, our community comes together for one of our most loved traditions: the Phoenix Readathon. This is a six-week celebration of literacy, math, and student-driven learning. From January 5 through February 13, students track the pages they read both at school and at home. While our students are already enthusiastic readers, the Readathon adds an extra spark, encouraging goal setting and reflection around learning.
True to the Phoenix approach, the Readathon brings together multiple disciplines in meaningful ways. As students log their reading, they also engage with math, adding page counts, exploring place value, and analyzing school-wide totals. These skills are introduced and expanded based on each student’s readiness, allowing for both challenge and confidence. Writing plays an equally important role. Students create thoughtful sponsor letters and decorate handmade notecards, learning how to communicate clearly with a real audience.
The Readathon is also a fundraiser, supporting our EarlyAct Club, a student-led service group that funds local and global community projects. Students have a voice in deciding how these funds are used. This helps reinforce the idea that learning can and should make a difference beyond the classroom.
Last year, our students collectively read over 100,000 pages. But the most meaningful outcome isn’t the number; it’s the excitement you can feel as students watch their totals grow, cheer each other on, and discover new stories and genres along the way. As this year’s Readathon continues, we’ll be sharing updates on our progress and celebrating the milestones reached along the way. We’re proud of our readers, not just for how much they read, but for how joyfully they engage with learning.
If you’d like to support our readers and help make experiences like this possible, we invite you to donate to our Readathon here:
https://secure.givelively.org/donate/phoenix-school-inc/readathon-2026