UPP and BSS Students Awarded for Reading and Public Speaking Accomplishments

Two new initiatives are helping UPP and some BSS students to improve their reading skills and public speaking: The MReader program and the African Leaders Showcase held every Fall and Spring semester. Students received certificates for their outstanding achievements in these programs at a ceremony on April 15, 2021 hosted by the Provost & VPAA.

The MReader program is an international extensive reading project designed to assist students in the improvement of their English reading, vocabulary and critical thinking skills. Students choose graded readers from IUGB’s vast library in a variety of different genres at an appropriate level from 1 – 9.  They then take quizzes on the books they read, and are awarded points representing the number of words for each book they’ve mastered as they work towards their semester reading goal.  Over 7,000 quizzes are offered on the free MReader.org website, hosted by the Extensive Reading Foundation.

Four BSS students ranked at the top of the International Mreader Leaderboard listings.  IUGB was represented for seven consecutive weeks by our top global readers. Our students Fadel Kamali Saka, Franck Ismael Ninguine, Daniel Boua Kouadio and Kouamebah Ornella Kouassi were the top level 3, level 5 and level 9 Mreaders, respectively. Kouamebah Ornella Kouassi was the number 9 Mreader for two consecutive weeks replaced by Daniel Boua Kouadio who has remained on the Level 9 International Mreader Leaderboard for the last three weeks.

Certificates were also given to the top readers in each UPP level, as follows:

To encourage passionate public speaking, UPP and certain BSS courses took part in the African Leaders series for spring semester, the fourth time this cultural literacy event has occurred. The African Leaders’ Public Speaking Series encourages student mastery in public speaking as students immerse themselves in Black excellence embodied by the leadership of both our ancestors and contemporary role models in academia, the arts, business, engineering, health, mathematics, politics and the sciences. There are numerous benefits to public speaking including increased confidence, oral fluency, development of vocabulary, critical thinking and the building of leadership skills. The African Leaders’ Public Speaking Series encompasses all of these advantages as it nurtures African identity by integrating positive role models to inspire students’ interest and self-confidence as they research phenomenal achievers, synthesize language and embody the characteristics of excellence.

This semester’s speakers were: