Pizza party

Connie Jo Discoe/McCook Gazette

Second graders at McCook, Nebraska, Elementary School celebrate their reading accomplishments -- and the 30th anniversary of the Pizza Hut "BOOK IT!" reading program -- Friday with pizza provided by Pizza Hut of McCook. Lined up on the stairs, students and Pizza Hut representatives Caroline Lee and (not shown) manager Kevin Cox stretch a paper chain made of their "BOOK IT!" coupons. Pizza Hut designed BOOK IT! to motivate children to read by rewarding their reading accomplishments with praise, recognition and pizza. BOOK IT! was created in 1984 and currently reaches more than 14 million students in 38,000 elementary schools annually.