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A Northside ISD school was crowned the winner of the NCAA's "Read to the Final Four" competition.
Burke Elementary was named the 2025 reading champion and will receive a $5,000 makeover of its school library.
The contest challenged 3rd grade students to increase their reading minutes.
Burke Elementary students read for 1,827,419 minutes.
The final four San Antonio-area schools in the competition — Burke in Northside ISD, Harmony School of Science and Freedom Elementary in Southside ISD, and Royal Ridge Elementary in North East ISD — were honored during the NCAA's Final Four Fan Fest.
Harmony received a $2,500 gift card from Scholastic. Freedom and Royal Ridge also received similar gift cards for $1,500 and $1,000, respectively.
Also, the students from each of the four schools who read the most minutes received an Amazon Kindle Kids tablet.
In a statement, the San Antonio Local Organizing Committee (SALOC) explained that the "program involved more than 26,000 third-grade students from 306 elementary schools who read more than 27 million minutes in a tournament-style reading competition, culminating in a thrilling championship. ..."
In the same statement, JoAn Scott, NCAA vice president of men’s basketball, said, “We are so thrilled to honor young San Antonio readers as part of the Read to the Final Four program. This program began as a way to emphasize the NCAA’s education-focused mission and promote literacy among communities that are hosting our championships. Thank you to the San Antonio community for its enthusiasm and congratulations on achieving your reading goals."
