WICHITA — This year marks the 20th anniversary of the McDonald’s Reading Challenge, an initiative that has encouraged more than one million Kansas students to read more books.
Since its inception in 1992, the McDonald’s Reading Challenge has provided reading incentives for almost 200 elementary schools in the greater Wichita and Topeka markets. The program urges students in grades K through 5 to work with their teachers to set their own reading goals. Progress is tracked with individual reading logs.
Participating area schools are: Eisenhower, Riley and Park elementary schools and Holy Family School, all in Great Bend; Ellinwood Grade School; Central Plains Elementary, Holyrood; Central Plains Middle School, Bushton; Otis-Bison Elementary, Otis; and Northside Elementary and R.V. Phinney Elementary, both in Larned.
Students who reach their monthly targets are rewarded with a certificate for a free McDonald’s Happy Meal or other McDonald’s menu item. Each year, the one class in each school that completes the most reading logs also receives a classroom party catered by McDonald’s.
“Good reading skills are vital for academic success. That’s why local McDonald’s restaurants are doing all we can to help Kansas teachers encourage their students to read,” said Tim Lane, president of the Mid-Kansas McDonald’s Co-op representing 61 restaurants in 27 counties around Wichita, Central and Northwest Kansas.
“Parents can help children reach their McDonald’s Reading Challenge goals by scheduling family reading time each day. Allow your kids to select books based on their own interests, then be sure to talk with them about what they’re reading,” said Steve Tyler, president of the NE Kansas Co-op that includes 21 McDonald’s restaurants in Topeka, Emporia, Manhattan, Junction City and the surrounding area.
For more information about the McDonald’s Reading Challenge, contact Kelly Longenecker-Thomas, 316-636-5995, ext. 12, or kellythomas@sternadvertising.com.