St. Cloud Area Schools Celebrate I Love to Read Month [VIDEO]

ST. CLOUD -- Local students are celebrating "I Love to Read" month in a special way.

St. Cloud Area School District 742 kicked off their annual One District One Book program at Scheels on Saturday.

Every student in grades K through 5 will get a copy of this year’s book: The Vanishing Coin.

District Literacy Coordinator Lori Eckert says they picked it for a few different reasons.

There’s three main characters. Two of them are boys. One’s a girl. They love soccer. They’re elementary age kids. There’s just so many points of connection I think real life with kids at school with the kids in the book and they can identify with one of the main characters. And then there are three books in the series beyond this one, so the idea that if we can hook kids into reading then they’ve got something to look forward to reading next.

At the kick-off event kids could do a scavenger hunt, practice their moves at a soccer station, color a picture, see a clown magician perform tricks, and be read the first chapter of the book by grandparents and other volunteers.

Eckert says the program is a good way to connect the district, the students, and their families.

We want to support what’s happening at home. We want to support you as you help your kids become readers. This is one very small way, but it’s a very exciting way to help you build that love of reading with your kids.

The students will get their copies of the book to take home on Monday.