Life

Kindergarten Class Throws Millionaire Reading Bash

by Casey Suglia

Reading is absolutely crucial to any child's development. Reading enriches, it transports kids to a new world, and pushes them to think bigger and think more. Reading provides kids with a wealth of knowledge, making them rich with ideas and information — and one kindergarten class that decided to throw a millionaire bash in honor of the fact that its students read a collective 1 million words together is not only totally creative, it's further incentive for the kids to keep up the good work.

The concept of this "millionaire bash" was simple — teachers threw kindergarten students at an elementary school in Columbus, Georgia a class party, celebrating the students reading a combined 1 million words during the year, according to BuzzFeed. And boy, did those teachers make their students feel like millionaires. The little kindergarteners got to dress up, ride around in a limousine, walk on a red carpet, and sign autographs for adoring fans (or just their family members). The photos from the millionaire bash are absolutely adorable and you can truly feel the kids' excitement — and why shouldn't they be proud? They've just accomplished something major.

Talk about feeling like a million bucks.

School teachers were able to estimate that 1 million words were equal to 250 books, according to BuzzFeed News; Students were able to meet the goal by keeping track of books read throughout the year using their reading logs, and their hard work was rewarded with a glitzy celebration. (The bash is held by the school for kindergarteners every year when students meet their goal, according to WTVM.)

This was no easy feat, either; According to Mashable, all seven books in the Harry Potter series contain a total of just over 1 million words — and that's a lot for any kindergarten class to handle.

This accomplishment is more than impressive and should encourage students to not only read more books throughout their life, but will help them sharpen a valuable skill set. Research shows that reading in kindergarten is absolutely vital in building a child's vocabulary and helps develop reading skills that will stay with them over time. And it seems to be working: A recent study, conducted by the University of Ohio, found that children entering the first grade in 2013 had significantly better reading skills than the same type of students, 12 years before.

Encouraging young students to read more by providing this kind of fun incentive shows them that hard work definitely pays off, and that they too, are millionaires — just with their own kind of special, irreplaceable wealth.