STUDENTS WIN PRIZES WITH BOOK IT! PLAN

JACKSON -- Students at Immaculate Conception cheered for reading and for pizza during an assembly Friday morning.

The school was the third-prize winner in the national Book It~! enrollment sweepstakes sponsored by Pizza Hut.

Pizza Hut regional supervisor Steve Eck presented the school with several gifts during the assembly, including a $2,500 cash prize that will be used to purchase new books for classroom libraries.

Principal Tracy Dumey said she hopes the school will soon be able to consolidate its individual libraries into an all-school library.

"We hope to expand with eight classrooms in April, and that could free up a classroom in the main building for a future library," she said.

Book It! is the nation's largest reading incentive program. Each year, the program sponsors an annual sweepstakes to offer public, private and parochial school principals the chance to win cash awards for their school libraries and other educational resources. To participate, a school must enroll 100 percent of kindergarten through sixth-grade classrooms in the program.

Pizza Hut has sponsored Book It! since 1984. More than 20 million students in 45,000 classrooms have participated in the program.

"At Pizza Hut, we believe it's important to encourage our children to develop a desire to read," said Eck.

As part of the Book It! program, each teacher sets reading goals for students during the fall. As students meet their goals, they receive incentive coupons for free Pizza Hut personal pan pizzas.

If a class meets its goals for an entire year, it receives a free pizza party at the end of the school year.

"It's a big motivational thing, plus it helps them become better readers," said Dumey.

Students thanked Eck for his company's support by writing letters explaining why they like the Book It! program. Free pizza, of course, was the most frequent answer given.

Kathy Raines, a second grade teacher, said the program also helps students develop a lifelong relationship with reading.

Books are wonderful, individually-bound secrets, she said during the assembly. They can take you on trips, introduce you to new friends, and help shape your life.

"Until you open up a book and look under the cover and get to know it, you don't really understand the secret," Raines said. "It's a wonderful gift."