Beechwood Elementary treated 48 fifth- and sixth-grade students who earned the required number of accelerated reader points for each grading periods to an end-of-the-year celebration at See’s restaurant.

The students were treated to a ride to the restaurant by Southern Limousine Service Thursday.

Accelerated reader is a computer- based reading program built on a student’s individual reading level, which is determined through an assessment test.

Students receive points based on the style of book read; whole points are given for chapter books, non-fiction and smaller books are worth half of a point.

“Most of these older kids do read the chapter books to get their points faster,” said Melissa Hardy, fourth-grade teacher and Beechwood’s accelerated reader committee chairwoman.

Paula Meer became the first student during the school year to read a million words. She and Hunter Merritt ended the year reading two million words. Hendrix said there were another 26 students who read over a million this year.

This accomplishment excites Hardy. She is proud of her previous students who earned the points for the trip and as they’ve grown to become admirers of literary content.

Hardy taught some of the fifth grade students as third graders. She would read to her class with full-fledged animation of characters with unique voices. She believes her reading efforts with the students played a role in helping those reluctant to reading eventually enjoy the activity.

“There are a lot of kids who came in as very reluctant readers and as they were introduced to books and series they liked. they really dug into it and found a love of reading for sure,” Hardy said.

Beechwood librarian Rhonda Hendrix has watched these students and their reading habits since they were in kindergarten.

She noticed a difference in how eager they’d become after passing through Hardy’s class and credits their change of heart to Hardy instilling a love of reading.

“It’s amazing that teachers can do that and she’s one of the ones who does that,” Hendrix said.

“She’s a fabulous teacher is what I’m saying and she loves reading and yes a teacher makes all the difference in the world to instill the love of reading.”

Students who went to See’s were greeted with other classmates as they walked a red carpet to a stretch limousine. Once they arrived at See’s, they received a full on performance from the chefs as they chopped out rice and prepared meals with flare.

Accelerated reader has been a part of Beechwood since Hendrix came to the school 14 years ago. The school’s previous principal would send as many teachers as he could to conferences and got the school on board with the program.

“I came from a school previous to working here where AR was not focused on and when I came here it was amazing to see the difference in the kids that had an AR background versus the kids I had taught previously,” Hardy said. “Those kids could not read and did not want to read. These kids here love to read and I think AR has a big affect on that.”