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Homewood PTA readathon provides incentives to read

Reading begets reading.

That’s the impetus for the Homewood PTA readathon that started Monday, Feb. 7, and continues til Friday, Feb. 18. The project will provide students with incentives to dedicate time to read, and the money they raise will provide the means for District 153 school libraries to purchase more books.

So students can read even more.

Readathon co-organizer Meredith Thetford said last year’s readathon raised about $9,000, and the organization hopes to more than double that amount this year.

“The goal is to increase reading, and funding for reading,” she said. “It’s vitally important that kids are encouraged to read whenever and wherever they can.”

Participating students will pledge to read for a certain number of minutes per day. They will seek pledges from donors, but anyone in the community can pitch in.

Another important part of the project is to support a local business that is in the business of reading, Bookie’s New and Used Books. Students can receive discount coupons from Bookie’s, each grade level will receive gift cards from Bookie’s and the PTA has committed to providing each school library in District 153 with $2,000 in credit at the store.

“We want to make sure that, along with giving back to the schools in a literacy form that we’re also able to help a local business,” Thetford said.

District officials expressed support for the project. Superintendent Scott McAlister said the PTA’s efforts to help students read more would fit well with the staff’s efforts to do the same.

“There are few things a school district can do that are more valuable than to instill in our students the ability to read and to foster a lifelong love of reading,” he said. “Programs such as the Read-A-Thon help support the great work done in our classrooms each day.”

School board President Shelly Marks agreed.

“This has always been one of my favorite PTA projects,” she said. “I love that children are given encouragement to read and appreciate the support from our school libraries and a local business.”

Related links

Read-a-Thon page: https://www.read-a-thon.com/school/_45749

Donate to the Homewood PTA readathon: https://app.memberhub.gives/readathon153/Campaign/Details?fbclid=IwAR394d_I6IPpjOqhkZHZWpsMYXnY-qwA-rqnXVppPZQSpcBl9LHxFIMUijA

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