On the morning of Thursday, September 17, 20 Hawley Elementary School students enjoyed a breakfast with their principal, Christopher Moretti, for completely filling out their Summer Reading Bingo cards.

Every summer, incoming kindergartners through fourth graders at Hawley get a bingo sheet to fill out during summer break. These sheets feature a wide variety of reading challenges, from reading someone a book over FaceTime to coming up with as many words as they could using the letters in their name.

Students got different prizes depending on how many rows they finished. For example, if they filled out one row, they got a certificate, while if they completed two rows, they got a book donated to their class with their name inside.

As is tradition, any students who completed their bingo card got to have breakfast with Moretti.

These students included: in first grade, Luna Baumgart, Victoria Roach, Noelle Ruotolo, Evan Kirsch, Hazel Drumm, Christopher Merritt, Ben Adler, Natalie Giugguio, David Reiff, and Stella Reinoso-Jambor; in second grade, Emma Butler, Andrew O’Connor, Ben Ford, and Avery Kelleher; in third grade, Ayla Castignoli, Hudson Damon, Miles Partridge, and Kian Adler; and in fourth grade, Carina Drumm and Dominic Kershaw.

The top summer readers arrived at school early Thursday morning. There to welcome them in the lobby was Moretti, who excitedly told the students about the special breakfast in store for them.

When asked "what's for breakfast," Moretti said they would have fruit, juice boxes, and water, but gave them a hint by showing off his donut tie. He joked that they "probably hated donuts," which the students strongly objected to.

As Moretti marked students in, many teachers arrived early for the school day and took the chance to congratulate the top summer readers.

In previous years, the Summer Reading Bingo breakfast had been held in one of Hawley's downstairs conference rooms. However, so many kids participated in the bingo last year that they had to move the breakfast to a bigger space, according to Hawley Executive Administrative Assistant Sarah Dapp.

Moretti led everyone to the school's multipurpose room, where Hawley Language Arts Consultant Patti Vitarelli was putting the final touches on preparing the special breakfast.

Inside were several tables, one of which was covered by a paper sheet that read "Congratulations top summer readers." It also had an illustration of an open book, with the words "Once upon a time ... twenty Hawley School students ROCKED their Summer Reading Bingo!" written inside.

Moretti and Vitarelli had everyone sign their names on the paper sheet, which Vitarelli said would be hung up in the hallway for everyone to see.

After that, it was time for breakfast. On a table at the other side of the room were two boxes of artisan donuts from Grounds Donut House in Danbury. Students could pick from a variety of flavors such as classic glazed, s'mores, and coffee cake, or Boston cream, strawberry frosted, and cookies and cream.

Moretti and Vitarelli cut each donut in half and helped each student pick what they wanted for breakfast. Some kids picked two halves of the same type of donut, but others felt adventurous and tried two different flavors. Regardless, students also paired their breakfast with a serving of fruit such as cantaloupe, strawberries, and mango, along with their choice of juice or water.

As everyone ate, Moretti went around and asked kids what box they had the most fun checking off on their bingo card.

Moretti called the breakfast one of his favorite activities of the year, and said that he loves hearing about families spending time with their kids.

"We have kids FaceTiming their parents and grandparents, one girl was taken to the library by her grandmother ... So the parents are getting involved in getting their kids to read, and I just think that's awesome," Moretti said.

"It's just so much fun to hear what they did over the summer.”

Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.