County participates in record-breaking quest

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
Students from county schools joined millions across the country Thursday morning in a reading campaign that set a new world record.
Elementary students throughout Franklin County took part in the "Jumpstart: Read for the Record" campaign.
The event was a worldwide campaign to have more than 1 million school children read the same book on the same day.
Local educators and community leaders gave their time to read Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
"This is all about getting children hooked on literacy and showing them the importance of reading," Russellville West Elementary librarian Mary Kay Rogers said.
Belgreen also participated in the Read for the Record event Thursday.
First-grade teacher Jennifer Oliver organized the event at the schools and Assistant Superintendent Donald Borden was the guest reader. Children from kindergarten through second grade participated in the event at Belgreen.
"Everyone around the nation is working with us to break the record," Oliver told the students. "After we read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar, we will all be record-breaking readers."
On a national scale, the book was read on Thursday's episode of the Today Show, and author Eric Carle also made an appearance. The book was first published in 1969 and has been a staple of elementary school libraries since.
The "Read for the Record" campaign is presented in partnership with the Pearson Foundation and Wal-Mart.