NORFOLK, Va., March 12, 2019--The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) partnered with the Norfolk Public Schools, City of Norfolk, Renaissance Star Reading and TowneBank Tuesday morning to honor Larchmont Elementary School, who won this year’s Read with MEac competition.
 
Read with MEac was founded by the MEAC’s Senior Woman Administrators (SWA) with goals of promoting the love of reading. Dr. Dennis Thomas, MEAC Commissioner; Sonja Stills, MEAC Senior Associate Commissioner/Senior Woman Administrator; Sandra Booker, Bethune-Cookman Senior Woman Administrator; and Yvonne Allmond, Senior Vice President of TowneBank, each had a hand in greeting and congratulating the Larchmont students on their commitment to reading and being excellent students, all stressing the importance of doing well in school.
 
Norfolk Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Melinda J. Boone and her staff went to the drawing board and redesigned the structure of Norfolk Public Schools into a four-pillar system when she took over four years ago. The four-pillar system consists of: leadership, literacy, rigor, and innovation, and while they are all important to students’ success, the school system harps on literacy.
 
“Literacy is at the forefront of this, and we know unless students are able to learn to read well, they won’t be successful, so that’s our full push,” Dr. Boone said.
 
Her vision is to invest in her children with programs like Read with MEac to increase literacy in hopes of closing the opportunity gap for her students.
 
As the first-place school, Larchmont received a check for $2,000 and a party celebration at the school. Cheerleaders, mascots, student-athletes and athletic administrators from MEAC institutions helped celebrate the students.
 
For more information on the 2019 MEAC Basketball Tournament, including brackets, ancillary events, tickets and travel information, visit www.MEAChoops.com.