A program aimed at getting kids to read more capped off with a special visit.
This was the second year for the Read With me and the RCMP reading program at Lumby’s J.W. Inglis Elementary, where students are promoted through the ranks of the RCMP as they read books all year.
When students reach the rank of commissioner, they receive a ride to school from Const. Gary McLaughlin, who founded the program, as well as a red serge visit and certificates from Lumby Mayor Kevin Acton and the RCMP detachment commander.
“This year, about 15 students reached the end of the program with the school as a whole reading thousands of books,” said McLaughlin.
To celebrate the end of the year, members of the RCMP brought along police service dogs, a UAV drone, motorcycle and the RCMP helicopter to reward the students for their hard work.
McLaughlin started Read With Me and the RCMP in 2009 when he was stationed in Revelstoke.
The program has been recognized by the Columbia Basin Alliance for Literacy, the North Okanagan Early Years Council and most recently as part of The Morning Star’s Community Leadership Awards.