Karen Collier, Alanna Beaser, Tobey Hunter, Susan DeMichael, Dawn Ramm, Bridget Merchant, and Judy Price)

Reinforcing good reading and learning habits at home is the premise of the "PAC RATS (Parents and Children Reading All Together Successfully)" program. Approximately 160 pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students from Hernando Elementary School will participate in a reading program that promotes literacy in the home as well as in school. Three days per week, the children will have the opportunity to take home a "PAC RATS" tote bag that includes a fiction or nonfiction story and a reading comprehension log. The idea is to engage parents in reading with their children on a regular basis early in life. This will allow the parents to support reading in the home as the child continues to develop. The team's program directly addresses the statistics that say that one out of four students entering kindergarten is not ready to successfully participate in school. By outlining the importance of reading for the parents, it puts students on track to achieve more in school.