On February 1st, we kicked off the third Bookmans' Reading Challenge, our annual reading competition for Arizona elementary schools. Three months and over 296,500 books later, we are thrilled to announce that Village Vista Elementary School in Phoenix, Peak Elementary School in Flagstaff, and Sonoran Science Academy-Broadway in Tucson, have each read their way to the grand prize of $5,000 in their respective cities.

This year's Reading Challenge expanded from Tucson and the Phoenix area to include Flagstaff, putting the total number of participating schools at 47. The three winning schools accounted for more than 37,000 books read in the Challenge.

Thank you Bookmans for allowing us the opportunity to exceed our reading goals and achieve more than we ever thought possible. The $5,000 will be such a blessing to our reading program in a time of state district budget cuts. Jan Stevens, Village Vista Elementary School Principal

This past three months has been remarkable! It may be called Bookmans' Reading Challenge, but I feel it should be titled Bookmans' Reading Inspiration! Students have found a new love for reading, and Sonoran Science Academy-Broadway has found a renewed love for Bookmans. Thank you. Sharon Houston, 4th grade teacher and Reading Challenge liaison

Next week Bookmans will present checks for $5,000 during award assemblies at all three schools. The dates and times of the assemblies, and the final winning Challenge totals, are below. We will of course be posting photos and videos of the big moment(s) here on bookmans.com. For more information, contact Sheila at sheilak@bookmans.com.

Village Vista Elementary School (Phoenix)
AWARD ASSEMBLY: Thursday, May 14th at 2 p.m. at Village Vista Elementary School, 4215 E. Andora Dr., Phoenix.

Number of books read: 22,987
Number of students: 398
Average number of books read per student: 57

The Peak School (Flagstaff)
AWARD ASSEMBLY: Friday, May 15th at 9 a.m. at The Peak School, 2016 N 1st St # B, Flagstaff

Number of books read: 3,816
Number of students: 111
Average number of books read per student: 34.4

Sonoran Science Academy-Broadway (Tucson)
AWARD ASSEMBLY: Wednesday, May 13th at 9 a.m. at Sonoran Science Academy-Broadway, 6880 E. Broadway Blvd., Tucson

Number of books read: 10,476
Number of students: 157
Average number of books read per student: 67