Spotlight On Education

Fifth-grade students at Central Riverside Elementary had special visitors on Thursday, April 24, when Peter Bragan, Jr., president of the Jacksonville Suns and Southpaw, the team’s mascot, presented the "Casey Challenge" as part of the Jacksonville Suns "Catch Reading Fever" campaign.

The purpose of the "Catch Reading Fever" campaign is to encourage students to read and to strengthen the reading comprehension of fifth-graders.

During his presentation, Bragan, discussed the importance of reading and quizzed students on their reading comprehension. He then recited the baseball poem Casey at the Bat and challenged students to memorize the entire poem. Those who did were rewarded with a Suns replica jersey or a genuine Louisville Slugger bat. The students were also challenged to read 10 books before Reading Day at the Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville to receive a free ticket to the game on Sunday, May 18.

"The students who are treated to this annual event absolutely love it," said Pam Picray, media specialist at Don Brewer and Central Riverside Elementary schools. "We are very lucky to have a professional organization, like the Jacksonville Suns, that works to increase literacy with our school children!"

The Casey Challenge began in 1989 when Bragan read at R.L. Brown Elementary School at the insistence of Carolyn Kantor, then Duval County Public Schools director of media specialists. Kantor, a retired principal who is now working as a Fast Forward reading teacher at R.L. Brown, helped start a tradition. The program now reaches approximately 2,500 students a year and has affected more than 40,000 Jacksonville area elementary school children since its inception.

The Jacksonville Suns "Catch Reading Fever" campaign has visited the following elementary schools this year:

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