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SALT LAKE CITY — Movies and pop culture are usually things that compete against what principal Karen Marberger tries to achieve in school.
"Sometimes it's difficult to counteract the media, the TV, the video games, so we really do a big push on getting students to read," she said.
But on this day, those factors worked in her favor. Every student received tickets to this weekend's Comic Con pop culture event, for their progress in reading.
"It will continue to motivate them to read," Marberger laughed.
At a school assembly, super heroes Indiana Jones and Superman congratulated Oquirrh Hills Elementary students. And when they announced the surprise tickets, even the kindergartners erupted in cheers.
"I've always wanted to go to Comic Con," said sixth grader Christian. "But the tickets are really expensive, so I was really excited!
"It's awesome! I've never been there, so it will be awesome!" said another sixth grade student, Tessa.
Oquirrh Hills takes part in KSL's Read Today AmeriCorps program. Volunteers from the community read individually every week with struggling students. The extra reading attention helped students raise their year-end Dibels test scores.
"Students worked hard on their reading and got their scores up," said AmeriCorps Coordinator Merrie Jackson.
Students in their school made among the most progress. So besides Indiana and Superman, students can see all their favorite super heroes. Their principal couldn't get a more anticipated motivator for students to read.
