TULSA, Okla. — Do you remember the book that first made you fall in love with reading?
Maybe it was a book filled with fantasy adventures, a biography of a historical figure, or perhaps it made you think twice about the world around you.
2 Cares for the Community and Equity Bank are helping open the world of reading to 3rd graders so they can Read 2 Lead. Research shows the 3rd-grade age group is critical in turning young kids into readers.
This week is Berryhill South Elementary. To help engage them, each class of 3rd graders at Berryhill Elementary received a weather book to continue their knowledge gathering.
Equity Bank also donated $250 for the school to buy even more books.
"Equity Bank has their own reading program, as well,” Paula Lawton, commercial banker at Equity Bank, said. “So, they started a reading program in 2019, giving books to schools. So, it's always been important to Equity Bank to give back to the children in the community."
"I have 'Who would win? Alligator vs. Python' and 'The Babysitter's Club Kristy and Snobs,'" Emory Cooper, 3rd grader at Berryhill Elementary, said.
Each student got to pick out two books from the bus.
"I was like shocked and excited,” Cooper said. “I have never seen so many books in my life."
Cooper said the books open a whole new world.
"If you use your imagination and pretend it's real, it can actually happen,” Cooper said.
That is something school counselor Jennifer Hassenplug can agree with.
"It opens up a whole new world to everybody that reads,” Hassenplug said. “You can live a different life, have new adventures, everything with reading."
Not only are they taking home these books, but the children also got a chance to check out the 2 News Storm Truck and took the green screen for a whirl.
"This is an amazing day,” Cooper said. “I wish this day would never end."
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