Awesome.  That's right, I said it -- AWESOME!  Books are awesome.  Reading is awesome.  School kids and teachers and librarians are awesome. Why you ask?  Because during the first two months of the Bookmans' Reading Challenge, students from the  41 participating elementary schools in Tucson, Phoenix and Flagstaff  have read just over 175,000 books.  Isn't that amazing?  Every single person who's heard the total so far has responded with a very loud, "Wow!"  And it really is a "wow" inducing number: a number that should make the students, teachers, librarians, and parents taking part feel very proud.

A few schools have reason to be especially proud of March's numbers:

In Tucson: Ms. Rhodes' 2nd grade class at Children Reaching for the Sky Charter School read an average of 63 books per student in March. 
In Phoenix: Mrs. Durand's 2nd grade class at Constitution Elementary read an average of 25 books per student.
In Flagstaff: Ms. Kiraly's 2nd grade class at Peak Elementary School read an average of 15 per student.

These 2nd grade classes rock! They all win a field trip to Bookmans!

Stay tuned for the Reading Challenge wrap up.  Just one more month to go until three elementary schools win $5000 each!  200,000 books -- here we come!