On April 11, Mrs. Kristen Korenoski's 3rd grade class was honored for winning the Penguins' Reading Champions Challenge.

Students were presented a trophy — engraved with their names — along with personalized medals. Mrs. Korenoski's class also enjoyed a pizza party. Over an eight-week span, Mrs. Korenoski's class read for 73,245 minutes, the most of any participating classroom. The Reading Champions Challenge, a reading initiative organized by U.S. Steel and the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, encourages 3rd grade students to grow their love for reading through an eight-week program. Duquesne City students have participated in the challenge for two years.  

The goal of the challenge is to have each student read for 20 minutes a day, the same amount of time in a hockey period. Each class is provided with a set of ten books focused on teamwork, kindness/anti-bullying, hockey, and penguins. All of the district's 3rd grade classes participated in the challenge, along with a plethora of other 3rd grade classes in the general Western Pennsylvania area. 

“It’s extremely cool to win it. They really put in the hard work and they set the goal themselves. It’s all on them. They were motivated to do it," said Mrs. Korenoski.

"They just have that love for reading, that love for learning. They have that spark, and that has all come together and they just really jumped on board this year. They’re a group of readers.”