Summer Reading Heats Up as Kids Log More Than 15 Million Minutes in the Scholastic Summer Challenge!

NEW YORK, June 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Already this summer, more than 57,600 students are making summer reading a priority, logging more than 15,392,625 minutes (to date) in the Scholastic Summer Challenge, a free reading program dedicated to stopping the 'Summer Slide.' The Scholastic Summer Challenge motivates kids to log the minutes they spend reading over the summer as they Read for the World Record. The 20 schools with the most minutes logged at the end of the program will receive recognition in the 2012 Scholastic Book of World Records. Kids can participate in weekly challenges, earn digital rewards, enter sweepstakes to win fun prizes, and more.  And there's still time to sign up!

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To date, more than 6,100 schools from around the world have registered for the Scholastic Summer Challenge, helping to bridge the school-to-home connection and stop the 'Summer Slide,' the loss of academic skills that many children experience during summer vacation.

"It's exciting to see that so many students have already embraced the Summer Challenge and are keeping up with their reading this summer by spending more time reading," said Patrick Daley, Senior Vice President, Scholastic Classroom and Community Group. "Summer reading is vital to improving students' literacy skills and helps build the reading stamina necessary to tackle the more challenging texts students will meet when they move to the next grade in the fall."

In addition, 44 Governors' Spouses are joining the Scholastic Summer Challenge as Reading Ambassadors to promote literacy in their states. In support of the Spouses' participation, Scholastic is donating 500 books to a school selected by each First Spouse, for distribution to children to take home and read over summer vacation. The majority of the Reading Ambassadors are also hosting summer reading kick-off events at local schools or libraries.

There's still time to join the Scholastic Summer Challenge - teachers can register their students before June 30, 2011 for a chance to win a classroom library and a $250 gift certificate to the Scholastic Teacher Store. Kids can also register directly at www.scholastic.com/summer. The Scholastic Summer Challenge ends on August 31, 2011.

Visit www.scholastic.com/summer to learn more about the Scholastic Summer Challenge. For more information about Scholastic Inc., visit our media room at http://mediaroom.scholastic.com.

SOURCE Scholastic Inc.

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