The week of Oct. 21 marked the start of the Carolina Hurricanes’ Pick Up a Book and Read program for the 2012-2013 school year. Third through fifth grade students across North Carolina will read and compete for Hurricanes incentive prizes. The mission of Pick Up a Book and Read is to motivate students to be excited about reading and help elevate them to a higher reading level.

Gabby Pinto

Participating teachers choose a six-week period where students record on a scorecard how many pages they read. Each student receives a bookmark and each classroom receives a Carolina Hurricanes poster and stapler. In the 2011-2012 season, over 3,000 students from 61 schools read more than 4.4 million pages during our Pick Up a Book and Read program. This year, the top five schools that read the most pages will receive an assembly with Stormy and some of the Hurricanes staff.

On Friday, Oct. 19, Stormy and Hurricanes alumnus Shane Willis visited participating classrooms from Baileywick Elementary and Brassfield Elementary in Raleigh. They delivered the classes’ supplies and explained how the program works to get the students excited! Willis talked about the importance of working as a team to read to be one of the top schools that gets an assembly.

Students got the chance to ask Willis questions. Some of the most impressive questions were:

• Have you ever played against the Czech Republic?
• What kind of equipment do hockey players have to wear?
• What is your favorite book?
• How tall are you? How much do you weigh?

What smart students.

The kids got a giggle out of seeing Stormy dive nose first into some of their books. I think he may have even tried to eat one! Shane and Stormy gave high-fives on their way out and even took photos and signed some autographs.

Stormy, Shane and the crew are set to visit Douglas Elementary and Endeavor Charter School on Friday. We are eager to check in with and visit more participating teachers and students. We want to thank all of the teachers and students who participate in this year’s Pick Up a Book and Read program. Remember kids: “Be Like The Pros and Read!”

It’s not too late to register! Third through fifth grade teachers in North Carolina can register for Pick Up a Book and Read until Dec. 14, 2012. Click here for more information and to register your class today.

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