Summer reading pays off for winners

Trips to Universal Studios, Chicago or a Taylor Swift concert are certainly a way to grab kids’ attention and it’s even enough to get them to read.

The Elkhart Public Library Summer Reading Challenge creates big winners every summer and this summer is no different with Go for the Gold and a chance to win $1,000 Dicks Sporting Goods shopping spree and a party for 10 at the South Bend Cubs performance center.

Last year’s winner, Gabriela Prieto found that reading was fun and she felt better prepared for the next school year.

“It was fun,” she said. “It motivated me to read more and it prepared me for eighth grade.”

Other past winners have taken advantage to read what they want and explore new authors and genres.

2018 winner Maddie Daugherty’s mom Elizabeth saw her daughter expand her reading horizons and try out new books.

“(She gets) to check out new books that maybe the school doesn’t have,” Elizabeth says. “It gives her some opportunities to branch out, it brings her things that maybe she wasn’t familiar with.”

There’s also the fun of possibly becoming a winner.

“She likes the summer reading program because she gets rewarded for that, whether it is the beads and the bead chain or the grand prize,” says Elizabeth.

“I kind of thought I might win like a $15 gift card or something I didn’t expect to win it all,” says Gabriela.