Gov. Locke Challenges Kids to Crack Books

Gov. Gary Locke proved Thursday that nothing sells scholarlyachievement like a free trip to Disneyland.

When the Seattle Democrat asked kids at Martin Luther King Jr.Elementary School in Yakima who would be willing to take a free tripto the land of Mickey Mouse, 500 little hands shot up so quickly thatflags for miles must have fluttered from the rushing air.

There's a catch. To be eligible to win one of the two MagicKingdom junkets offered by Alaska Airlines, or any of the scores ofother prizes, the kids will have to hit the books this summer.

"Reading is so important in everything we do," Locke told thestudents, who gathered for an assembly just hours before the finalbell of the school year.

The Governor's Summer Reading Challenge asks kids to spend 15hours reading between now and Aug. 15.

"That's only 20 minutes a day five days a week," said Locke, whoalso pitched the challenge to kids in Seattle, Spokane and Pasco onThursday.

Kids who meet the reading goal are eligible for the prizes, whichinclude 4,000 $5 gift certificates donated by online retailerAmazon.com.

To enter, kids need to drop Locke a line, telling him how muchthey've read and offering a few details of their favorite books.Winners will be picked by random drawing.

A father of two, Locke has made reading and early learning pillarsof his administration. He said that encouraging children to readoutside of school will help them retain skills that can be lost inteacher-free summer months.

"We don't want our kids to backslide," Locke said.

In Yakima, the program is backed by area Rotary clubs that donatedbooks for children to read over the summer. Many of the Martin LutherKing kids clutched those books as Locke spoke Thursday.

Local book stores are also chipping in with books to give away aschallenge prizes.

More information on the challenge is available at CentralWashington public libraries, or on the Internet atwww.governor.wa.gov.