A challenge issued by Astronaut Mark Lee sparked the interest of eight-year-old Courtney Earle, of Brockport, when she heard him speak while on a family vacation to the Kennedy Space Center last summer. "We'd gone on vacation and one of the activities was a presentation by an astronaut who issued a challenge to read 200 books by the end of the summer and if the children did that he would send them a patch that he wore on a mission," Courtney's mother, Shelley Earle said. "He told the kids that when he was younger he got turned on to reading and read 200 books in six weeks and that gave him a head start in school and launched his career." Shelley and Hank Earle's daughters both were inspired by the challenge but because of the longer length of books their 12-year-old Heather read, she didn't quite make it to 200 books. Courtney's reaching her goal was gained by a combination of reading to herself and having her parents read to her. Now that Courtney is in second grade she does read most of her books herself, her parents said. The love of reading, Shelley said, is one that runs through the whole family. In August, Courtney, with some help from her parents, typed a letter to Lee and attached a list of the 200 books she'd read. The letter read in part, "When my family visited the Kennedy Space Center you made a challenge ... to read 200 books by the end of the summer ... and I did!" She sent him a picture of herself along with her family, that was taken during the visit. When asked why she wanted to take the astronaut up on the challenge and read that many books, Courtney said, "I just really love to read and it was fun." She said it was exciting to get the patches and that her father had put them into an album for her to keep. Courtney said she wants to be a teacher when she grows up. November 6, 2005 |
