FRANKFORT, KY -- For the second straight year, Kentucky Power Company is sponsoring a team of employee volunteers to read at local elementary schools as part of "Read to Me Day" 2005. On Wed., Nov. 9, approximately 40 company employees will fan out to 31 schools in Boyd, Pike and Perry Counties, to emphasize the joy and importance of reading to hundreds of students.

Among the readers is Kentucky First Lady Glenna Fletcher, who will read at Cannonsburg Elementary School in Boyd County. "Literacy and reading are near and dear to the First Lady and we are pleased she will be helping us spotlight their importance to the children of our service territory," said Kentucky Power President Tim Mosher.

The Boyd County School System is also pleased to have the First Lady emphasizing literacy in Boyd County. "The Boyd County School District’s emphasis on reading at every level is a lasting legacy to our children. We welcome Mrs. Fletcher to Boyd County as we spotlight our literacy and reading programs. Cannonsburg Elementary is a shining example of the effect reading can have on our children’s lives," said Superintendent Howard K. Osborne.
 
Read to Me Day is quickly becoming a tradition at Kentucky Power. The company piloted the program last year in Pike County, which is the largest county Kentucky Power serves. The program was so successful the company decided to expand the program to Boyd and Perry Counties this year.

"We are trying to grow the event responsibly in order to provide a quality program," said Ronn Robinson, corporate communications manager for Kentucky Power. "It’s important to us that we offer a program in which schools want to participate. It may work out that we expand the program again in 2006; we’ll evaluate that possibility after this year’s event."

Through the program, Kentucky Power volunteers read to second and third-graders at schools that choose to participate. There is no cost to the schools and once the volunteer finishes reading the book, he or she donates it to the school’s library to give students a chance to check it out on their own.

The book selected for this year’s event is "Saturdays and Teacakes" a beautifully written and illustrated book that depicts a young boy’s special relationship with his grandmother. The book is written by award-winning author Lester Laminack and illustrated by Chris Soentpiet.

"Reading is fundamental to success - in life, in careers and in business," Mosher pointed out. "By championing reading for fun and development we are investing in future opportunities for our children. That’s something important to Kentucky Power and our employees."