OLD ORCHARD BEACH, Maine —
The Maine Department of Education’s "Read to ME Challenge" is an annual campaign to promote childhood literacy and the enjoyment of reading.
Every February for the past nine years, the DOE challenges anyone to read to a child for 15 minutes.
Education Commissioner Pender Makin kicked off the Read to ME Challenge at Jameson Elementary School in Old Orchard Beach.
About 50 second graders sat down and listened to "Manolo and the Unicorn" by Jonah Kramer and Jackie Azúa Kramer.
"A love of reading is so important to the human experience and to a person’s quality of life. It's an opportunity for all of us to just slow down and to take the time to share the journey of imagination like what we did here today," Commissioner Makin said.
