The USN community set a goal to read 25,000 pages during Read Across USN Week, and it's safe to say, we're going to need a bigger goal next year. Read on to find out our final number and our raffle winners.
By Kate Pritchard, Library Director
Dear USN community: Wow. Wow, wow, wow. We asked you to track your reading for one week to see if we could reach a goal of 25,000 pages read by our school community, and let me just say: You did not disappoint. Our final tally for Read Across USN Week? 242,128 pages.
Two hundred and forty-two thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight pages. That’s not just double or triple our target; that’s nearly ten times our goal.
Every page you turned, every audiobook you listened to in the car or on a walk, and for our band students, even the music you sight-read — it all added up to an enormous achievement that exceeded our wildest expectations.
All participants were also entered into a raffle for Parnassus gift cards, with one prize for each division, and one for faculty & staff. The lucky winners are Arianna Kennedy '33 for Lower School; Neel Sinha '31 for Middle School; Asher Freiberg '27 for High School; and Middle School Learning Specialist Anna Claire McKay for faculty & staff.
We want to give a huge thank-you to everyone who participated in Read Across USN Week; to all the teachers, staff, and administrators who supported this program; and to everyone who encouraged their friends, families, students, and others to pick up a book, to notice all the ways we read in our daily lives, and to keep track of their pages for a few days.
Now the question is: what should we aim for next year?
The Quiz Bowl team traveled to Bowling Green, Kentucky, to face several top teams from across the country at this year's South Warren Tournament. USN's second-place finish earned the team an invitation to the National Academic Quiz Tournaments' National Championships in May.
In an inspiring new initiative, USN's health care career spotlight, organized by Ruchika Ramachandran ’27 and Yvonne Wang ’27, brought a wealth of alumni back to the school for an evening of shared expertise and personal stories. This first-of-its-kind event was a great example of the power of connection, mentorship, and community evident throughout the USN community.
Ahead of the All Bands Winter Concert, students got to play for Larry Clark, the composer who arranged the holiday medley that the band will perform at 7 p.m. Tuesday, December 9 in Durnan Auditorium.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.