Team Canada read a total of 12,450 minutes and won gold in the Fairfax R-3 Reading Olympics. (Photos submitted by Lauren Clark)

Team Austria read a total of 12,119 minutes and won silver in the Fairfax R-3 Reading Olympics.

Team Great Britain read a total of 10,347 minutes and won bronze in the Reading Olympics.

Henry Smith read 3,330 minutes and won gold in the Fairfax R-3 Reading Olympics. 

Chevelle Hall read a total of 2,226 minutes and won silver in the Reading Olympics.

Nakeyda Mathew read 2,224 minutes and won bronze in the Fairfax R-3 Reading Olympics.

Team France

Team Italy

Team Switzerland

Fairfax R-3 School held a Reading Olympics February 4-20 for elementary students and staff.

The Reading Olympics was created to encourage reading at home for preschool students through sixth grade students and the teaching staff, while having a fun emphasis on the Winter Olympics that was currently taking place. All of the elementary students and staff were divided into six different teams based on countries (Austria, Canada, France, Great Britain, Italy, and Switzerland).

The challenge was to see who could read the most minutes, both as a team event and as an individual event.

The top three teams received prizes. Team Canada came in first with a team total of 12,450 minutes read and won an extra recess, ice cream sundae party, and a pizza party.

Team Austria came in second with a team total of 12,119 minutes read and won an extra recess and an ice cream sundae party.

Team Great Britain came in third place with a team total of 10,347 minutes read and won an extra recess.

The top three individuals also won prizes.

Henry Smith read 3,330 minutes and won gold. He won a pop-it, his choice of three items at the vending machine, and a $20 Walmart gift card.

Chevelle Hall read a total of 2,226 minutes and won silver. She won a pop-it and her choice of three items at the vending machine.

Nakeyda Mathew read 2,224 minutes and won bronze. She won a pop-it.

The top three teaching staff also won prizes.

Miss Lauren Clark won the gold with 2,330 minutes read. She won a jeans day, one Jump Start Nutrition drink, and Mr. Barnes will cover her class for 20 minutes.

Mrs. LoryAnne Daugherty won the silver with 2,205 minutes read. Her prize was a jeans day and one Jump Start Nutrition drink.

Mrs. Melanie Lucas won the bronze with 1,785 minutes read. Her prize was a jeans day.

At the end of the two weeks, Miss Clark reported a 99% participation rate. Participants read for a total of 59,211 minutes (almost 987 hours, and over 41 days of reading). The elementary teaching staff managed to read for a total of 13,870 minutes, while the students totaled 45,341 minutes.

Twelve individuals read over 1,000 minutes. They are: Mackenzie Oswald, Delaney Oswald, Jaycee Stoner, Caroline Larson, Olivia Woods, Natalie Hernandez, Jude Long, Mack Smith, Mrs. Shelby Hurst, Mrs. Michelle Oswald, Mrs. Lexi Heck, and Mrs. Melanie Lucas.

Four individuals read over 2,000 minutes. They are: Nakeyda Mathew, Chevelle Hall, Mrs. LoryAnne Daugherty, and Miss Lauren Clark.

One individual, Henry Smith, read over 3,000 minutes.