4 students win in Blackwater Bikes for Books drawing

Front row from left to right, seventh-grader Chloe Widel, second-grader Amelia Widel, third-grader Dorsan Hern and fifth-grader Blake Frevert. Back row from left to right Bill Burnett, Curtis Carter, Tom Miller, librarian Eveleth Hill, Julie Schupp, Gary Whitehurst, John Holtsclaw and Principal Deon Duncan. Winning students from the Bikes for Books program at Blackwater School stand with their bicycles after a school assembly Tuesday morning, Dec. 1. Also pictured are representatives of Cooper County Masons and Citizens Community Bank, sponsors of the bike event. (Sydney Stonner/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Four lucky Blackwater School students went home Tuesday, Dec. 1, with a little something extra: a new bicycle.

In a school assembly that morning, the names of four students -- a boy and girl in kindergarten through fourth grade and a boy and girl in fifth through eighth grade -- were drawn in the Bikes for Books program.

Second-grader Amelia Widel, third-grader Dorsan Hern, fifth-grader Blake Frevert and seventh-grader Chloe Widel were the students who received bikes, which were provided by Cooper County Masons and Citizens Community Bank in Blackwater.

First-grade teacher Mitch McCuan helps Blake Frevert ride the bike he won in the Bikes for Books drawing around the Blackwater School gymnasium Tuesday, Dec. 1. (Sydney Stonner/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

Before the drawing, school librarian Eveleth Hill congratulated all students for their participation in the reading program.

"I wish everyone could win," she said. "You know you're all winners."

A total of 30,682 pages in 1,071 books were read during the program in the fall semester. The more students read, the more they could enter their names in the bike drawing.

Dorsan Hern takes his new bike for a spin in the Blackwater School gymnasium Tuesday, Dec. 1, after his name was drawn in the Bikes for Books program. (Sydney Stonner/Democrat-News) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

"We did have some (students) that read a tremendous amount," Hill said.

This is the second semester the school has participated in the program, and there are plans to do so again in the spring.

Bill Barnett with the Cooper County Masons said his organization sponsors Bikes for Books at schools in Boonville, Glasgow, New Franklin and Fayette, as well as Blackwater, and he encouraged other Masonic organizations to get involved.

"It's an easy program to do," he said. "It's good for the kids."

Contact Sydney Stonner at marshallbusiness@socket.net