Dion's presents award to Ernie Stapleton librarian

RIO RANCHO (Oct. 3, 2024) — Teachers, staff, administrators and folks from the Albuquerque Isotopes were all treated to Dion’s pizza at Ernie Stapleton Elementary School earlier this month as Dion’s CEO Mark Herman presented school librarian Laraine Hostetler with the 2024 Laura Rasmussen Love of Reading Award.

The award was presented in the school gymnasium before the weekly staff meeting, so there was a full crowd on hand to congratulate the soft-spoken Hostetler. Herman presented the award before Hostetler gave a short speech. Afterward, Hostetler, Herman and several others, including Laura Rasmussen’s parents, went to the library to discuss plans and take photos.

The Love of Reading Award is part of the larger Club Read summer reading program, which is a partnership between the Albuquerque Isotopes and Dion’s Pizza aimed at encouraging kids to read and goes to the teacher (or librarian) who submits the most “scorecards.” Each scorecard requires a student to read six books. Hostetler and her students submitted 815 of them.

“We are so excited to have won this contest and so thankful to Dion’s for providing such an inspirational reading program to our students,” Hostetler told the Observer in September after the winners were announced. “The excitement about earning books, free pizza and going to support the Isotopes is so motivating for the children.”

The Club Read program, now in its 21st year, broke participation records in 2024 with 7,693 students, preschool through fifth grade, from more than 250 schools redeeming completed scorecards. In total, organizers say students read 55,848 books for the Club Read program this summer.

“The continued success of Club Read reflects our ongoing commitment to fostering youth development in the communities we serve,” said Mark Herman, Dion’s CEO in a news release. “This increase in student participation is inspiring, as it shows our efforts to promote literacy are having an impact.”

Set up in 2023 in memory ofRassmussen, an avid reader and employee at both Dion’s and the Isotopes who passed away in 2021, the Love of Reading Award is relatively new, and Hostetler is only the second educator to receive it.

Hoestetler, now in her 11th year as a teacher, said this was a group effort and a group win.

“With the older kids, we had ‘Read-a-thons’ in the library, and with the younger kids we did ‘read alouds,’” she said.

And yes, Hostetler said she does plan to carry on the program next year.

“The kids love it,” she said. “They especially love the free pizza. Plus, it happens in April or May, and it’s sort of a celebration of reading for us at the end [of the school year].”