WrestleMania Reading Challenge
2013 Champions I 2012-2013 Regional Winners | Previous Winners | About WWE | Further Resources | FAQ
How the 2012-2013 Challenge Works
- Register your library or school: librarians and educators must register by Nov. 2, 2012. To register, complete this brief online form.
- Help teens create their entries: tweens and teens will write a letter to their favorite WWE Superstar that convinces the Superstar to read the tween/teen's favorite book, and then submit it to you for judging. YALSA recommends holding a letter writing event during Teen Read Week, Oct. 14 – 20, to accomplish this.
- Judge the entries: pick one winner for each grade category (5-6, 7-8, 9-12). You are welcome to use this free, downloadable form (.pdf) as a means of collecting your tween/teen entries.
- Submit the winning entries to YALSA: by no later than Dec. 15, submit up to three winners (one from each grade category) via this online form. Complete one form per winner. Do not submit entries via the postal service.
Details
Participation by youth is open to legal residents of all 50 United States and the District of Columbia, as well as legal residents of Canada excluding Quebec. Participants must be in grades 5-12. Participants will compete in three grade categories: grades 5-6, grades 7-8 and grades 9-12.
Eighteen finalists will be chosen in February 2013 and will win transportation, hotel, tickets and spending money to attend WrestleMania 29 in East Rutherford on April 7, 2013 (a $5,000 value). Their sponsoring library will win $2,000. Finalists will compete in the WrestleMania Reading Challenge Championships on April 6, where they can win ringside tickets to WrestleMania 29 and other prizes.
For more information, tips and resources:
- Download the free 2012 - 2013 WrestleMania Reading Challenge Toolkit.
- To encourage your tweens and teens to read, you're welcome to use this free, downloadable reading pledge form (.pdf).
- Print out and display this mini poster (.pdf)
- Read the official rules (.pdf)
About the WrestleMania Reading Challenge
The WrestleMania Reading Challenge is sponsored by YALSA and WWE. The program encourages teens and tweens to read during Teen Read Week and beyond. By doing so, they can win prizes donated by WWE and other organizations. The goal of this program is to reach reluctant readers and get more teens reading beyond Teen Read Week by implementing a reading incentive program that provides prizes from WWE as a reward.
According to Nielsen Media Research, WWE's programming reaches 15.8 million fans each week, of which 23 percent is under age 18.
See what novelist Will Weaver had to say about being part of the 2009-2010 Challenge in the Huffington Post!
See what Bambi Mansfield, a library director in Michigan, told WWE about how joining the program has brought new users into her library.
2013 Champions
The world championships for the 2013 WrestleMania Reading Challenge were held on April 6 at the City College in New York, NY. The winners are:
- Grades 5-6: Dianna Nielsen, Port Jefferson Station, NY
- Grades 7-8: Harneek Kapoor, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Grades 9-12: Kenyan Gustafson, Sleepy Hollow, IL
They all won ring-side seats to WrestleMania 29 as well as $2,000 for their libraries to use towards the purchase of materials for their tween and teen collections. Congratulations to the three winners!
2013 Finalists
2013 regional winners are:
Grades 9-12:
- Kazek Israni-Winger, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
- Kenyan Gustafson, Sleepy Hollow, IL -- CHAMPION
- Benjamin Havel, Gloversville, NY
- Joanna Wallace, Hopewell, VA
- Javier Llantin Cruz, Bridgeport, CT
- Rose Gonzalez, San Diego, CA
Grades 7-8:
- Harneek Kapoor, Calgary, Alberta, Canada -- CHAMPION
- Yesenia Castelan, Whiting, IN
- Fenesse Walker, Rochester, NY
- Alex Woods, Havana, FL
- Ramon Pons, Bridgeport, CT
- Frankie Sindelar, Billings, MT
Grades 5-6:
- Fiona Woolley, Galway-Cavendish-Harvey, Ontario, Canada
- Angelina Manfredini, Westchester, IL
- Estevan Morales, Syracuse, NY
- Joshua Bendle, Quinton, PA
- Dianna Nielsen, Port Jefferson Station, NY -- CHAMPION
- Autumn Dudley, San Diego, CA
Previous Winners
About WWE
WWE, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: WWE), is an integrated media organization and recognized leader in global entertainment. The company consists of a portfolio of businesses that create and deliver original content 52 weeks a year to a global audience. WWE is committed to family-friendly, PG content across all of its platforms including television programming, pay-per-view, digital media and publishing. WWE programming is broadcast in more than 145 countries and 30 languages and reaches more than 500 million homes worldwide. The company is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, London, Shanghai, Sydney, Tokyo and Toronto. Additional information on WWE, Inc. can be found at corporate.wwe.com.
Further Resources
To learn more, you can also visit WWE's WrestleMania Reading Challenge Web page.
Questions? Email yalsa@ala.org or call 1-800-545-2433, ext. 4390.
