Hamilton Elementary School

Moline, Illinois

2025 Read Live School of the Year Runner-up

Submitted by Megan Peterson, Reading Specialist

Robinson School receives a $500 Read Naturally Gift Certificate.

In the past, Hamilton Elementary School used Read Live to support students in intervention develop their fluency and comprehension skills. The results were so positive that this year, they decided to implement the program across the entire third-grade level—ensuring that every student, regardless of reading ability, has access to the structured literacy support that Read Live provides.

Hamilton Elementary School is dedicated to helping every third-grade student make the critical transition from learning to read, to reading to learn—and they’re finding great success. Since adopting Read Live, educators have observed students growing not only in their reading skills but also in their confidence and attitudes toward reading. Instructional coach Megan Peterson shares, “Many students who previously lacked confidence in their reading abilities now approach their reading tasks with enthusiasm.”

Peterson explains that students using Read Live are truly experiencing the joy of reading to learn: “The concepts and topics that they’re able to learn about are exciting to them. They’re learning about a lot of different nonfiction people, places, and things.”

Hamilton Elementary School is successfully leveraging innovative, research-based literacy strategies to drive measurable improvements and help every student thrive. They are a model of excellence in literacy instruction and a very deserving awardee of the Read Live School of the Year scholarship.