As a reward for earning the third-highest number of reading minutes in Missouri as part of the “Reading with the Rams” literacy contest, Hazelwood Central Middle School seventh-grade students will receive a visit from Rampage, the St. Louis Rams’ mascot. Rampage will visit during half-time at a basketball game between sixth- and seventh-graders on Friday, February 18 at 10:00 a.m.

“I am so proud of our seventh-grade students,” said Kathy Secours, a communication skills teacher. “They’ve earned this visit by having the 3rd highest number of reading minutes in the state. These fabulous students have met the Hazelwood School District's Literacy Goals and many have exceeded those expectations by reading at least two novels every month.”   

Students earned points in the contest as follows:

·       Safety (2 points) for reading one magazine or newspaper article.

·       Field Goal (3 points) for reading a short story between 10 and 50 pages in length.

·       Touchdown (6 points) for reading a book at least 50 pages in length and listed on the

        school’s grade-level reading list.

·       Extra Point (1 point) for writing a review of the (touchdown) book that they completed.

More than 21,000 students, 1,000 teachers and 200 different schools participated in the Reading with the Rams program. The first place school won a visit from Rams player Steven Jackson while the second and third place schools won visits from Rampage. The St. Louis Rams and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Newspapers In Education Program co-sponsored this literacy contest.