Save the Date:

Feb 2 - Mar 2, 2026

The CEF is getting a new look for the 2025-26 school year. Join us for READ ACROSS CAMBRIAN, a month long celebration of literacy across the Cambrian School District that builds upon the Read-a-thon by adding literacy focused enrichment events and programs. Email Melissa at president@cambrianef.org to join the 2025-26 event planning committee.

Read-a-thon Planning Committee Members Needed

Love the Read-a-thon? Have ideas for how we can improve it for your school or district-wide? Join our planning committee. Commitment is approximately 4 hour long evening planning sessions on zoom between October 2025 and February 2026. Interested?

Email Melissa at president@cambrianef.org

Sign up

Congratulations to our Top Reading School of 2024-25:

Farnham Elementary

The 5th Annual CEF Read-a-thon

February 3rd-28th, 2025!

We did it! 

Thank you for your support of this year’s Read-a-thon! So far our students have read over 2.3 Million minutes and raised over $60,000 goal to support social emotional learning and mental health and wellness resources across the school district.

To those who have donated, THANK YOU! We couldn’t have done it without you!

Donate here

Registration is now open!

Parents can now sign up or log in to their dashboard and register their students for this year’s event. Registration is FREE & Easy!

Visit: www.getmovinfundhub.com/register

School Identifier Code: 655760c422c18

Click here to Register

It’s time to get WILD ABOUT READING! Each year the CEF hosts a Read-a-thon to get students reading and to raise money for Social Emotional Learning & Mental Wellness Resources in the Cambrian School District. These funds are used to benefit all students, from TK to 8th Grade.

How does it work?

It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3… 

  1. Register your student online at: http://getmovinfundhub.com

    School Identifier: 655760c422c18

  2. Students read books and log the number of minutes read daily.

  3. Students ask family and friends to donate either an amount per minute or a flat amount.

Important Dates

Tuesday, January 14: Registration Opens

Monday, February 3: The Read-a-thon Begins

Friday, February 7: Spirit Day! Dress as a book character or author

The week of February 10-14: Used Book Swap. This event varies by school site. Please see your school’s calendar for details.

The week of February 17-21: February Break - No School, but keep reading!!

Friday, February 28: The Read-a-thon ends at Midnight. This is the last day for reading to count.

Monday, March 3: Bingo Cards & Paper Reading Logs are due to your teacher. Online reading logs are due and close at midnight.

The week of March 24-28: School Site Awards

Thursday, April 3: District Awards at 7pm at the Cambrian School District Board Meeting. District winners will be invited by email by Monday, March 31.

Prizes & Incentives for All Schools & Ages

  • Register online to get a Read-a-thon Bookmark

  • Submit a Book Review to the Cambrian Public Library for a small prize.

  • The Top Reading Students of each grade at each school get a FREE BOOK from the Cambrian Public Library

  • Top 3 Readers of Each Grade at Every School will receive a certificate of achievement & school-wide recognition.

  • Top 3 Reading Teams at Each School get a certificate of achievement and school-wide recognition.

  • Top 3 Readers of Each Grade in the District will receive a certificate of achievement, a book store gift certificate, and recognition at a special awards ceremony.

  • Top 3 Reading Teams in the District will receive a certifcate of achievement, gift certificate for the teacher, and recognition at a special awards ceremony.

  • Top Reading School in the District earns the Read-a-thon Trophy, a commemorative plaque to keep, bragging rights, and recognition at a special awards ceremony.

Elementary School Incentives

  • Meet your Individual Superstar Reading Goal for a mini-hedgehog

  • Meet your Team Superstar Reading Goal for a Read-a-thon water bottle sticker for every student on your team.

  • Meet your Team Fundraising Goal for a magnetic animal bookmark for every student on your team

  • Meet your Team Superstar Fundraising Goal for a plush mini-hedgehog keychain for every student on your team

  • Elementary Bingo Card Prizes include a color changing pencil, squishy pencil grip, animal puzzle eraser, and mini-multicolored pen with animal topper

Middle School Incentives

  • Meet your Individual Reading Goal to get a Read-a-thon water bottle stickere

  • Meet your Individual Superstar Reading Goal and be entered to win a $5 gift card to Crumbl or Starbucks (5 available)

  • Meet your Team Superstar Reading Goal andget a clip on or magenetic bookmark for every student on your team

  • Meet your Team Fundraising Goal for a maze fidget pen for every student on your team

  • Meet your Team Superstar Fundraising goal and get a mini-multicolored pen with animal topper.

  • Bingo Card prizes include candy and House/Core Points. Fill out every square for a full size candy bar and 20 House/Core Points.

  • Meet your Team Reading Goal and get aCalm Sensory Sticker for every student on

Earn Rewards for your Teachers

  • Meet your school-wide Reading Goal to earn an appreciation luncheon for the teachers and staff at your school

  • Meet your school-wide Fundraising Goal to earn a coffee cart for your teachers and admins

  • Meet your school-wide Superstar Fundraising Goal to earn on-site chair massages for up to 30 teachers and staff at your school

  • Teachers with 95% of their students registered and logging minutes will be entered to win a $25 gift card. 4 available.

How does the competition work?

Team/Class Goals & Competitions

Students will register with their school, grade, and teacher or Price Middle School “House”. Teams will be able to see their individual and group progress in both reading minutes and fundraising.  Teams can earn incentives for their whole group by meeting certain reading and/or fundraising benchmarks.

  • Elementary teams will be by teacher/classroom. 

  • Price Middle School teams will be by “House”. 

  • Steindorf Middle School teams will be by grade level.

Teacher Accounts & Incentives

Teachers will be able to view how their class/team is doing with the option to provide prizes or incentives to their classes for reaching certain reading or fundraising milestones. Teachers will also be able to easily log minutes read during the school day for their students. Students or families will still need to log minutes read outside of school.

Teachers will be eligible for rewards and incentives based on their team/class reading and fundraising.

Family Fundraising Pages

Families with more than one student can create a family fundraising page. Donors to the family page can share their donation among all students in the family.

Middle School Updates

Middle School students will have their own set of rewards, incentives, and bingo cards this year.

New Bingo Cards!

We have updated our bingo cards and incentives. New this year, we have four categories by age group, available in both English and Spanish.

  • Pre-School, TK & Kinder

  • 1st-5th Grade

  • Price Middle School

  • Steindorf Middle School

School Site Awards

Each school site will have their own awards and incentives this year. Top readers for each grade level will be recognized at the school site. Schools may also offer prize or incentives to the entire school for meeting certain reading or fundraising goals.

District-wide Awards

The top readers of each grade, the top teams/classes, and the top reading school will be recognized at an awards ceremony at the District Office.

The Top Reading School & District Team/Class will be calculated based on a reading ratio per student. Please see “How are the district winners determined?” for more details.

Student Book Reviews

The CEF is proud to partner with the Cambrian Branch of the San Jose Public Library for this year’s Read-a-thon. Cambrian students are invited to submit a book review to the Library. Book reviews will be compiled and displayed in front of the Children’s Section on the 2nd Floor. Each student will also receive a small prize as a thank you for their review.

SUBMIT BOOK REVIEWS DIRECTLY TO THE 2nd FLOOR DESK AT THE CAMBRIAN BRANCH PUBLIC LIBRARY.

Book Review Form - English
Book Review Form - Spanish

Bingo Cards

Students can earn rewards for playing our Reading Bingo Challenge. Elementary students can win individual prizes. Middle School students can earn candy prizes and House/Core Points for their team. Limit one Bingo Card per student.

Resources

Thank you to our community donors:

  • Cambrian Branch of the San Jose Public Library

    Thank you to our community partner who is generously donating a free book to the top reading students of each grade at each school and a small prize for each student who submits a book review to the library.

  • Councilmember Pam Foley

    Thank you for your generous, long-term support of Cambrian Schools and $300 to support this year’s Read-a-thon prizes.

  • Picture Your Business Name & Logo Here

    Email Melissa at cambrianef@gmail.com about sponsorship opportunities for this year’s event!

FAQs

  • Any student in the Cambrian School District.

  • No. While fundraising is greatly appreciated, it is not required to participate and receive reading awards or incentives. Participating students should still register and log their minutes online.

  • For the majority of students, reading will be when the student spends time reading written materials, books, manuals, instructional materials, etc. Students may log time they spend reading independently, in class, or in their spare time. Reading may also include being read to by an adult or another student or listening to audiobooks, if appropriate for the student’s age or reading level. We rely on the honor system, so please only log minutes spent actively reading or listening to books.

  • Students will complete the bingo card appropriate to their age or Middle School they are attending. Limit of one Bingo Card per student. Books titles may only be repeated once.

    Students will receive prizes based on how full their Bingo Card is. Middle School Students will also earn House/Core points for their team.

  • The State of California recommends the following reading minutes per day per grade level:

    TK & Kindergarten — 10 minutes / day

    1st Grade — 15 minutes / day

    2nd Grade — 20 minutes / day

    3rd, 4th, & 5th Grades — 30 minutes / day

    6th, 7th, & 8th Grades — 45 minutes / day

    This year’s Read-a-thon will last 22 days. To calculate your Team/Class reading goal, use the following calculation:

    Total Student Minutes Goal = Expected Reading Minutes Per Day x 22 Days

    Team/Class Goal = Sum of all Student Minutes Goals

    Here is an example of how to calculate the Team/Class goal for an 1st/2nd Grade Combo Class:

    1st Grade Goal = 15 minutes * 22 days * 10 students = 3,300 minutes

    2nd Grade Goal = 20 minutes * 22 days * 14 students = 6,160 minutes

    Team/Class Goal = 9,460 minutes

  • The Grade-Level winners will be determined by comparing the total minutes read per student in that grade.

    In order to calculate the Top Reading School and Top Reading Team/Class in a way that can measure the youngest and oldest student’s reading expectations and abilities at a given school site or classroom, we will apply a student reading ratio based on the State of California’s recommended reading minutes per grade level (see “How are the Team/Class reading goals calculated?” to find the state recommended daily reading minutes per grade).

    Student Reading Ratio = Actual Minutes Read

    Expected Reading Minutes

    The Top Reading School will be the site with the highest total based on the following calculation:

    School Reading Ratio = Sum of all students’ reading ratios

    Number of students enrolled

    The Top Reading Team/Class will be the team/class with the highest total based on the following calculation:

    Team/Class Reading Ratio: Sum of all students’ reading ratios

    Number of students in the team/class