ARLINGTON — Eagle Creek Elementary commended the 53 students who managed to rack up more than 53,000 minutes of reading time between them over the summer with a celebration Sept. 24.

Eagle Creek Elementary Principal Denise Putnam joined a few teachers in the lunchroom as they handed out prizes to the school’s Summer Reading Program students, ranging from ice cream bars and Everett Aquasox tickets to certificates for Alfy’s personal pizzas and McDonald’s Happy Meals.

“Plus, they get to have lunch with their teachers, so what could be better?” Putnam laughed. “They feel really proud of themselves for this accomplishment. Any time we can recognize them for their dedication, especially to reading and improving their learning, it’s a good thing.”

Putnam stated that she was pleased by this year’s student participation numbers, which she expects to grow next year.

Third-graders Kirahy Meyers, Alec Villa and Georgia Arnold giggled as they stared at their gift certificates and devoured their chocolate pops. All three students share an affinity for the “Magic Tree House” series of books, but beyond that, their tastes in literature diverge wildly.

“I like the ‘Dear Dumb Diary’ books because they’re funny,” Arnold said. “Keeping up with my reading was really fun.”

When Villa noted that he wound up reading a lot of his mom’s books, his second-grade teacher from last year, Jodi Smith added that Villa often made the Summer Reading Program’s three-month goal of 1,000 minutes of reading per student in a single month.

“I just read any book I could get my hands on, because I wanted to achieve that goal,” Meyers said. “I like books with adventure and mysteries, like Scooby Doo. I like reading because it builds my brain.”