Ticket to Reading Rewards

Grant Proposal
Ticket to Reading Rewards Grant is an incentive based reading program for middle
schools that partner reading and college basketball. I felt this would be a perfect program to
use at my school since two of the big initiatives that we have had the last few years are trying
to get students to read outside the classroom and the second is thinking about college. These
are the main goals of the program; get kids reading more independently and get them thinking
about college. We have tried everything from doing one book-one school with author visits, to
taking one mandatory field trip each year to a college campus. These have all been met with
mixed results. The Ticket to Reading Rewards Grant is sponsored by the National Association of
Basketball Coaches Federation (NABC).
Students are challenged to read books outside the classroom and for every five they
read (5,10,15,20,25) they will receive a prize from the NABC. All prizes are given free of charge.
The NABC has many high profile sponsors who make generous donations. These include Phil
Knight (Founder of Nike) and Sports Illustrated for Kids. I would be seeking an additional $500
from the Mannheim Education Foundation for additional prizes for the top readers at each
grade level as well as those that go beyond the 25 book total. There will also be a classroom
lunch for the class whose students read the most total books.
In addition to the prizes each student will receive a ticket to a college basketball game
and there will be a kickoff assembly that will feature a motivational talk from a college coach.
Each classroom will then be assigned a college or university to participate in a March Madness
style reading competition. The winning class will receive a luncheon from a local restaurant of
their choice. Dates will be set and classrooms will be bracketed off against each other. The
room that reads a greater total number of books will advance in the tournament. At the same
time individuals will be encouraged to keep reading even after their classroom has been
knocked out because of the individual prizes provided by the NABC. Classrooms will also
research about the college or university that they were assigned, thus providing another
opportunity to exposure to college for students.
This is a large scale project that will involve a lot of collaboration in-order to involve all
classes. I would seek help from the librarian, the reading specialist, and the athletic director to
coordinate the college coachs visit. If successful the impact would be large. The population at
Mannheim Middle School is approximately 870 students, but in the last few years has been as
high as 1,000. If each student is engaged and reading we would see a great increase in the
number of students using the school library as well as improved test scores. The program will
begin in December and run through the basketball season with the culmination in March
around the time of the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Potential pitfalls to the program include not having equal class sizes so finding a fair way
to determine which class read more books (probably by average). Also, having to determine a
simple system for students to prove that they read the given books and the fact that some
students may lie about what books they have read.
As for the program continuing, the additional rewards that are provided by the NABC is
renewable every year, so if the program is successful I dont see why it wouldnt be possible to
continue it every year.


Name of Grant: Ticket to Reading Rewards Grant as well as an additional $500.00 from the
Mannheim Education Foundation Grant
Organization/sponsor of grant: National Association of Basketball Coaches Federation (NABC)
and the Mannheim Education foundation
Amount requesting: I am requesting $500 from the Mannheim Education Foundation. There is
no monetary amount from the NABC, all items are donated without cost.
Type of grant (book, equipment, innovation, etc.) Incentive Based Reading Program
Purpose of grant: 1. Increase reading of students outside the classroom. 2. Provide greater
exposure to college opportunities for middle school students.
Include collaboration with others if applicable: This is a large scale project that will involve a lot
of collaboration in-order to involve all classes. I would seek help from the librarian, the reading
specialist, and the athletic director to coordinate the college coachs visit.
In addition, from page 33 in your syllabus, include all items 1-7
1. Project: Ticket to Reading Rewards Grant is an incentive based reading program for
middle schools that partner reading and college basketball. I felt this would be a perfect
program to use at my school since two of the big initiatives that we have had the last few
years are trying to get students to read outside the classroom and the second is thinking
about college. These are the main goals of the program; get kids reading more
independently and get them thinking about college. Middle school students receive a
reward for every five books they read up to 25. In addition, they receive a ticket to a
college basketball game as well as a visit from a local college coach for a motivational
pep talk.
2. The $500 from the education association would be to purchase additional gift cards for
individuals reading more than 25 books as well as a lunch for the class that reads the
most total books.
3. There are no in-kind expenses. All awards and promotional items are provided by the
NABC.
4. The Ticket to Reading Rewards Grant promotes independent readers with an
understanding that hard work and having goals can lead to a college degree.
5. There will be approximately 900 student participants taking part in the program from
December-March.
6. Potential pitfalls to the program include not having equal class sizes so finding a fair way
to determine which class read more books (probably by average). Also, having to
determine a simple system for students to prove that they read the given books and the
fact that some students may lie about what books they have read.
7. As for the program continuing, the additional rewards that are provided by the NABC is
renewable every year, so if the program is successful I dont see why it wouldnt be
possible to continue it every year.