Manvitha Pateela likes to read – a lot!
That’s why the sixth grade student won last year’s annual Read for Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) challenge at the Menands School and why she is once again in hot pursuit of the title.
“Reading is something I am really interested in. I enjoy it a lot. The challenge is a motivation for me to read more,” said Pateela, who read 10 books during the month-long challenge.
Throughout this November, Pateela and her peers in kindergarten through eighth grade at Menands will read books and, in the process, raise funds for the charity through pledges and donations.
It’s the 28th year Menands students have taken part in the annual RMHC Challenge, a region wide literacy-based community service program that gives students the opportunity to use their individual skills and interests to support children and families served by RMHC of the Capital Region. For more information on the charity, go to https://rmhcofalbany.org/get-involved/read/.
Students collect sponsors, donations and pledges and track daily how many minutes they read and report it back to their class.
For Pateela, winning the competition is a “side benefit.”
“I am trying to win again this year, but if I don’t, it’s OK. I just like to read,” she said.
The quiet student is currently engrossed in “The Fantastic Beasts” by JK Rowling but is ready to open a chapter to new titles.
“I want to find new genres; that’s why I hang out at the library. But I want to finish the wizard books first,” she said.
As to others who want to get into reading, Pateela offers a couple of suggestions.
“I would tell kids, if they are younger, to try the ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ books and if they’re older, the ‘Harry Potter’ series,” Pateela said.
Pateela’s English language arts teacher Caroline Purdy praised Pateela as a hard worker.
“She is also very curious. She is open to reading new things and asks me all of the time for suggestions,” Purdy said.
Purdy said competitions like the RMHC Challenge helps youth develop a love of reading.
“It definitely motivates students. The rewards are pretty good, and [Principal Kathleen] Wylie does a good job of incentivizing the students,” she said.
Among the rewards for students this year is an opportunity to put a pie in the face of Wyllie. That is offered to all students who raise $50 or more. Additionally, the classroom that raises the most money will win a party.
Superintendent Jen Cannavo said teaching students the value of charitable acts is part of building a “whole” student.
“Projects like this give our scholars an opportunity to learn the value of charitable acts, and it also reinforces the need to be a part of the greater community, on a classroom-, school and regional basis,” she said.