May 18, 2021
By: Bill Conger
6th grader Ethan Brown won the two top DeKalb West School library awards this school year. For the second year in a row, he was presented with the Mrs. Sabrina Farler Principal’s Award. For 2020-2021 he had the most yearly Accelerated Reader points with 397.8. He also earned the prestigious Mrs. Amanda Mullinax Librarian’s Award for the most Accelerated Reader points with 1,607.2
“I am truly proud of Ethan for all his reading achievements!” Mullinax said. “He is a very intelligent young man with a bright future ahead. I hope he continues to read, enjoy, and learn.”
Ethan, the son of Mark and Galen Brown, says he first realized he had a joy for reading in 3rd grade when he discovered the book, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan.
“I liked its length, and it was fun to read,” Ethan Brown told Bulldog Tracks. “My favorite series is The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.”
Ethan this year received a certificate for accuracy. He was a member of the 100 points club twice this year and Top Reader for his homeroom. In his academic history at DWS, he has taken 689 AR quizzes.
It’s hard to find a time when this intelligent young man doesn’t have at least two fiction books in his hands.
“I like to have a book with me in case I finish one because I do most of my reading at home,” Brown explains. “If I’m at home and I finish a book and I want to keep reading, it’s handy to have the next one with me.”
“My parents always read books with me when I was young. We were going through my closet, which is a mess and I had a shelf with some books on it and we were throwing out some that I had never read and some that I want to throw out that they wouldn’t let me because I guess for sentimental value like The Hungry Dinosaur.
Ethan reads for the love of it and has certainly seen the benefit to his education.
“Reading helps with grades a lot, and it also helps me build vocabulary. Pretty much anyone who has ever met me knows I have an enormous vocabulary.”
An academic standout, Ethan is a member of the Junior Beta Club, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and the DWS Bulldog basketball team.
While Ethan has achieved a remarkably high 1,600 Accelerated Reader points, he has his sights set on a higher goal.
“Before I leave this school, I do definitely want to hit 2,000 points, which I feel like is possible because I’m still a 6th grader. I’ve got two more years.