Congratulations to Enrique Gomez and Kaylee Riffer, who joined the ILC Reader Hall of Fame for reading all twenty books on the Abraham Lincoln Book Award list for 2017. This is Enrique's second year in a row of accomplishing this challenge. Each earned a $10 Amazon gift card. They also were invited to a pizza party along with the several other students who read at least four books from the list to qualify to vote for their favorite. Any student who read at least four books was entered into a raffle for a Kindle Fire. Our two winners were Ailyn Daruwala and Kaylee Riffer. 

Take a moment to think back to your childhood. What is your earliest memory of reading or being read to by someone? That moment in time was when you started to develop language skills that would serve as the foundation for your learning?

​Early literacy is so important for developing those critical early reading skills. In support of early literacy community efforts, Donna Corcoran, Barb Mason, Nicki Sutherland, Marcia Zboril, and I have collaborated with the Lake County Health Department’s Reach Out and Read program. Since 2008, we have conducted book drives and have donated 12,173 new or gently used books for Lake County children ages 6 months to 5 years old!  Impressive work. And we’re not done yet!