Joliet Public Schools District 86 kicked-off the 17 th year of Joliet Reads, a community reading
campaign to promote literacy, at a recent Joliet Slammers baseball game. This year, 33 Joliet District
86 students were recognized as the winners of the annual Joliet Reads bookmark contest during the
pre-game activities at the ballpark. The students' bookmarks will be distributed throughout the
community, including at District 86 schools and the Joliet Public Library, during the upcoming school
year to promote reading.
The student winners included: Dulce Arriaga De Lira, Hufford Junior High; Maria Avalos Angeles,
T.E. Culbertson Elementary; Jasmine Betancourt, Sator Sanchez Elementary; Benjamin Calderon,
Washington Junior High; Yaksi Cisneros-Zafra, Dirksen Junior High; Justin Cobbs, Carl Sandburg
Elementary; Nicholas Cole, Marycrest Early Childhood Center; Jacqueline Colunga Beltran,
Gompers Junior High; Audrey Desiderio, Isaac Singleton Elementary; Jocelyn Diaz, Woodland
Elementary; Lily Dyche, Forest Park Individual Education School; Kiyah Fulton, Woodland
Elementary; Denise Gutierrez, Gompers Junior High; Esmeralda Guzman, M.J. Cunningham
Elementary; Lonna Hebrard-Flores, Hufford Junior High; Niaya Herndon, Edna Keith Elementary;
Aiden Hult, Pershing Elementary; Bella Lesa, Carl Sandburg Elementary; Jayden Lopez, Farragut
Elementary; Mya Mays, Lynne Thigpen Elementary; Gabriela Mendoza, Woodland Elementary;
Vanessa Navarro Gama, Marycrest Early Childhood Center; Isabella Padilla, Eisenhower Academy;
Katherine Pearson, Washington Junior High; Allison Ponce, Sator Sanchez Elementary; Jessica Ruiz,
A.O. Marshall Elementary; Jesus Sanchez-Garfias, Marycrest Early Childhood Center; Sofia Saravia
Avila, Taft Elementary; Montgomery Sawyer, Farragut Elementary; Anderson Tucker, Washington
Junior High; Samantha Velazquez, Thomas Jefferson Elementary; Joyce Wilson, Thompson
Instructional Center; and Fatima Zamudio, Thomas Jefferson Elementary.