Frequently Asked Questions

What is Readathon?

Readathon is a two-week event where students read their hearts out and ask their family and broader community to sponsor their reading and support their school with donations. We also come together to celebrate and encourage all kinds of reading through events and workshops! Our goals are to have fun reading and raise $50,000 for Sequoia Elementary School.

How does the “Reading” part of Readathon work?

Students read as much as they can from April 23-May 6 and log the number of minutes they read (or are read to). We have a printable reading log where students can record and tally their minutes, and an online form to submit hours.

Who participates and what kind of reading counts?

All students can participate! Parents/guardians, grandparents, older siblings, and other caregivers and friends can read to children and record the minutes for them. Students may read to themselves, listen to audio books, watch author read-alouds online, or read to others to collect minutes. Minutes spent reading in class count, too! Students can read anything they want: novels, poetry, recipes, cereal boxes…really anything. Our goal is to get everyone reading!

How can I find reading material for my kids?

There are tons of free resources for reading material. Check out the resources on our Reading page on this website.

What is the Book Swap and how do I participate?

A book swap is where a group of people bring books they are ready to part with and take home "new" books that others bring to the swap. To get ready for Readathon, SPTO is sponsoring a massive book swap both at Sequoia and in the surrounding neighborhood, and we’d love for you to participate! Due to COVID, we're doing a drop-style swap where books are left in bins for the weekend and participants can come by on their own schedule. Find out more here.

What is Reading Challenge Bingo

We’ve put together a Reading Challenge Bingo Card, just for a little fun and inspiration. There are both reading and fundraising challenges. See how many squares you can fill in! Can you fill up the whole card?

What’s our fundraising goal?

Our big goal is to raise $50,000 for Sequoia. To get there, we’re asking each classroom to raise at least $2,500 each.

What are we raising money for?

Every year SPTO raises money for things that help Sequoia be the special place it is. We are currently raising money for the 2021-2022 school year. Together, we support things like music and science enrichment classes, the garden, literacy coaches, teacher and staff appreciation, community events, affinity groups, classroom supplies and technology, and so much more. These are just examples. We are in the process of forming our budget for next year, and it will be voted on by parents and staff who attend the May SPTO meeting.

Why are we asking you to ask others?

Readathon is our LAST fundraiser of the year. Instead of asking Sequoia families to donate yet again this year, we are asking you to reach out to extended family, friends, neighbors and other community members who love your kids and want to support their learning and invite them to donate. In this way, the circle of support for our students grows to encompass everyone who cares about our young scholars. Also, the more people involved in raising money, the more likely we are to reach our goal!

Why are we fundraising in teams by classroom?

Fundraising can be daunting, especially this year. Also, people have different situations that make it easier or harder to ask for and/or get donations. To make the experience feel positive and more embedded in our sequoia community, we’ll be taking a collaborative approach to fundraising this year. Every class has it’s own fundraising page, which you can send to your fundraising list and ask them to sponsor your child’s class at an amount that feels comfortable for them.

Help! I don't know what to write in my fundraising letters, etc!

Don't worry! We’re here to make it easy on you. We’ve put together some tips, templates and ideas for how to promote your readathon fundraising.

What should I do with cash or check donations?

Please make checks out to "SPTO" and/or send well-concealed cash to SPTO, 3822 Whittle Avenue, Oakland, CA 94602. Please put “Readathon” on the memo line.

Will there be prizes?

Yes! Prizes will be awarded to individuals and classrooms for both reading and fundraising achievements. Students will also have the opportunity to win raffle prizes during the Readathon assembly. Raffle winners will be randomly selected from students who submit their Readathon logs.