FRANKFORT, KY -- The joy and benefit of reading will be stressed to elementary school students in Boyd, Lawrence, Martin and Breathitt Counties Friday, Nov. 7, when volunteers from Kentucky Power read to second graders as part of the company’s fifth annual “Read to Me Day.”
 
On Read to Me Day, employee-volunteers travel to local schools, book in hand, to share the gift of reading with students and to encourage them to make literacy a major part of their education and life.
 
“Read to Me Day is a program that has gained wide acceptance in counties Kentucky Power serves,” said Tim Mosher, president and COO.  “In the four previous years, our employees have read to thousands of students in Eastern Kentucky.  At each school we visit, we emphasize the joy and importance of reading, then read aloud a children’s book selected especially for the event,” he said.  After reading the book, the volunteers leave it as a gift for the school’s library, increasing the library’s collection and giving the students a chance to check the book out on their own.
 
The book selected for this year’s event is “Read All About It!” jointly authored by United States First Lady Laura Bush and daughter Jenna Bush.  The book is about Tyrone, a popular elementary student who “rules” the school and is a whiz at math and science.  The only thing Tyrone doesn’t like about school is reading, something he finds “boring.”  Through the course of the story, Tyrone discovers there’s more to books than just words and finds a world of adventure in reading.  The book is beautifully illustrated by Denise Brunkus, a prominent picture-book illustrator.
  
Kentucky Power piloted the program in 2004 in Pike County, and now offers the program annually, on a rotating basis, to schools in its 20-county service territory.  There is no cost to schools to participate. The volunteers also provide students information about electricity and electrical safety, and encourage them to “play it safe” around electricity.
 
 “Reading is fundamental to success – in life, in careers and in business,” Mosher pointed out.  “By championing reading for fun and development we are investing in future opportunities for our children.  That’s something important to Kentucky Power and our employees.”
 
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