KEYS (Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services) member and Lakeland Christian Academy junior Leah Forshcas read “Can I Be Your Dog?” by Troy Cummings at Lincoln Elementary School during Tuesday’s Read Across Kosciusko County. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union
KEYS (Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services) member and Lakeland Christian Academy junior Leah Forshcas read “Can I Be Your Dog?” by Troy Cummings at Lincoln Elementary School during Tuesday’s Read Across Kosciusko County. Photo by Jackie Gorski, Times-Union
Second-graders in elementary schools throughout the county participated in an event Tuesday that sought to encourage literacy.

“Members of Kosciusko Endowment Youth Services (KEYS), the Kosciusko County Community Foundation’s youth philanthropy program, seek to encourage literacy by visiting second-graders during Read Across Kosciusko County (RAKC),” according to a news release from KEYS.

2023 marks the 17th anniversary of the program.

KEYS members are students in eighth through 12th grade from four school corporations in Kosciusko County: Lakeland Christian Academy, Tippecanoe Valley, Warsaw and Wawasee.

Involved in Tuesday’s event were 20 KEYS members, 32 adult volunteers, 16 elementary schools, 47 classrooms, nearly 1,000 second-graders and over 1,100 books for students and schools.

KEYS students and adult volunteers visit all the elementary schools in Kosciusko County to read the same book to second-grade students across the county.  Each classroom received a copy of the book.

Also, each second-grade student was given a different book to take home.

On Tuesday, KEYS member and Lakeland Christian Academy junior Leah Forshcas read “Can I Be Your Dog?” by Troy Cummings to Lincoln Elementary second-graders.

This is her second year reading to second-graders in the event. When asked why she wanted to participate in the event, she said the event helps encourage students to read more. It helps when the students see people be excited about reading.