HMS siblings take the prize in statewide reading competition

Harpeth Middle School (HMS) siblings Elijah and Silvia Riggs took home first place in their collective categories for Tennesseans for Student Success' (TSS) annual Tristar Reads contest.

Elijah, a seventh grader at HMS, took home the state's "Overall Winner" prize, logging more than 33,000 minutes reading a book this summer.

"I read an average of eight hours per day," said Riggs. "I love going into the books and feeling

what they feel and getting to think like they do."

Elijah, a seventh-grader at HMS, logged more than 33,000 minutes reading this summer. That's more than three weeks total. / TSS

Elijah's sister, HMS sixth-grader Sylvia Riggs, won the Tristar Reads Middle School Student category. The Kingston Springs siblings and two other students from the state will all take home a $1,000 college scholarship for winning the contest.

During the contest, more than 160 students statewide combined to log nearly 680,000 reading minutes.

“Reading is a foundational part of every child's academic journey, and we created Tristar Reads to ensure students are spending time with books during the break and not falling into

the summer slide that sets too many children back each year," said TSS President and CEO Lana Skelo. “The strong participation we saw this year is another sign of the improving education landscape that's occurring all across our state. Each student who competed in Tristar Reads will be better prepared for the fall semester because they laid the groundwork for success this summer."

TSS created Tristar Reads in 2016 to invite all Tennessee students entering grades K-12 to

spend at least 20 minutes each day reading a book. Students participating in this year's

program logged reading minutes from May 28 to Aug. 4, 2024. The contest additionally

partnered with Atmos Energy and Vooks to provide children with access to hundreds of digital

books through a free one-year subscription.