Year 2 Student Inspires Sandringham House to Embrace the MS Readathon
This year’s MS Readathon was inspired by the determination of one of our Year 2 students, whose idea grew into a whole-school initiative. Thanks to his leadership and the enthusiasm of our students and families, Sandringham House read more than 1,400 books and raised over $4,200 for people living with multiple sclerosis.
We sat down with Archer D to learn more about his experience.
What is the MS Readathon?
‘It is a program that supports children to read as many books as they can, people sponsor them to read the books and it raises funds for people who have multiple sclerosis and for the support they need.’
What made you decide to get involved?
‘Last year I raised nearly $1000 by myself. It worked out really well. When I received information again this year, Mum and I thought the School might be keen to join. We asked Mrs Tweedie (School Library teacher) and she said it was a great idea.’
In the end, nearly half of the school community signed up to take part.
How did you get the Readathon started at Sandringham House?
‘I spoke about it in school Assembly. We shared the link to the website for students and families to sign up. We tracked who had signed up and who raised money and who read the most books.’
What did you hope would happen when you encouraged others to join?
‘I thought that maybe 10 people might join in, but it turns out there was five times that! When I found out, I felt really happy. Mum said I was being a really good leader.
He also helped create a special reading tracker for the school.
‘Mum and I created a big wooden sign to track the reading. I gave some ideas and mum put it together. I decided the colours and the words I wanted. The sign looks really great. It sat in Reception so everyone saw it when they came in to school. It showed how many books we were reading and how much money we were raising.’
What was the most challenging part?
‘I wasn’t expecting to need to present in Assembly so many times so I had to show courage. I thought I did really well.’
When asked how he overcame those challenges, his answer was simple:
‘I felt strong and I just did it.’
Why do you enjoy reading?
‘I like reading Timmy Failure, they’re really funny. I borrowed another one today from the library.’
Over the course of the Readathon, he read more than 200 books.
‘I read more than 200 books for the Readathon myself. My little brother even read 120 books and he is in Kindergarten! I’m really fast at stuff so I just read really quickly. I read every day, that helped.’
Why is reading important?
‘So you can learn more things. It’s fun to read and you can find out stuff about the world, you can read funny, interesting, cool, weird… all kinds of books.’
How does it feel to know your efforts are helping others?
‘I feel proud.’
What are you most proud of?
‘Standing up at Assembly. Everyone was listening to me. I got to help them learn about this.’
What advice would you give to other students with a great idea?
‘If you want to do something, there’s always a chance to just do it! I want people who are nervous at the start to be proud at the end. You can learn that you can do hard things.’
When asked what the best part of the MS Readathon was, his answer was immediate:
“Everything! It will be coming back next year, even bigger and better with more people joining in!”
His story is a wonderful reminder that leadership can begin at any age. Through courage, initiative and a desire to help others Archer inspired our school community to read, fundraise and make a meaningful difference.
