Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH WEBSTER — This fall, kindergarten through second-grade students at Milford, North Webster and Syracuse elementary schools will read, grow and “boogie” together as all three schools participate simultaneously in Operation Read’s Book Boogie program.
Beginning in October, students at the three Wawasee elementary schools will participate at the same time in monthly reading challenges, recognition and celebrations. Each school will celebrate the accomplishments of its own young readers while also being part of a joyful, districtwide literacy initiative, according to a news release from Operation Read. Teachers also are encouraged to participate by reading and are recognized alongside their students.
“There is something incredibly special about children in all three communities sharing this experience at the same time,” said DeeAnna Muraski, executive director of Operation Read. “Book Boogie is not about one school competing against another. It is about an entire school community coming together to tell children that reading matters, their effort matters and we are cheering for every page they read.”
The program is being made possible through an $18,000 combined investment from the Esther Pfleiderer Charitable Trust, Operation Read and anonymous donors. Funding will provide books, student recognition, program materials, printing, tracking and monthly celebrations from October through April, followed by a final celebration and impact report in May.
At the final celebration, Operation Read will encourage students and families to carry that momentum into the summer reading programs offered by Milford, North Webster and Syracuse community public libraries. The intentional handoff connects the school-year excitement of Book Boogie with the free local opportunities that help children continue reading, discovering and growing throughout the summer, the news release states.
“The generosity behind this program is about so much more than funding materials or prizes,” Muraski said. “It represents a community choosing to invest in children at the very moment they are building the reading skills and confidence that will follow them throughout their lives.”
Operation Read has worked with the Wawasee Community School Corporation assistant superintendent and the principals of all three elementary schools to create a program that is exciting for students while remaining manageable for teachers and school staff.
“The partnership has been extraordinary,” Muraski said. “From our district leaders to each of the three principals, every conversation has centered on what will be meaningful for children, supportive of teachers and sustainable within the school day. Their openness, encouragement and commitment to young readers have made this collaborative launch possible.”
The K–2 focus reaches children before and during Indiana’s critical IREAD window while introducing Book Boogie to new groups of emerging readers. At its simplest, the program gives young children another reason to open a book, practice their skills and begin seeing themselves as readers. Every additional page read is already a victory, the release states.
During the program’s previous implementation across the three schools, students read a combined 2,088,846 pages. During that same period, the average percentage of students meeting the schools’ IREAD goal increased from 83.7% to 95.4%.
Those results are encouraging, but student achievement is never the work of one program alone. Teachers, families, classroom instruction, curriculum, attendance and other school supports all contribute to a child’s progress. Book Boogie is intended to provide an additional layer of support around that work by encouraging reading practice, tracking effort and making children feel celebrated for what they accomplish.
Implementing the same K–2 program at all three schools during the same school year will allow Operation Read and the school corporation to gather another year of consistent information about participation, reading volume and aggregate literacy outcomes. Just as importantly, according to the release, it will allow hundreds of children to share in the joy and excitement of reading together.
The 2026–27 launch will also introduce a new Book Boogie logo designed to reflect the imagination, movement and growth inspired by reading. Its message captures the heart of the program: “Growing Readers. Growing Dreams.”
“At some point, a child stops seeing reading as only an assignment and begins to discover that a book can take them anywhere,” Muraski said. “That is the moment we want to nurture. When children begin believing they are readers, an entire world of possibility opens before them.”
Operation Read is an Indiana nonprofit organization recognized by the IRS as tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3). For more than 30 years, Operation Read has provided literacy programs and services to children and adults throughout Kosciusko County at no cost to participants. Although its programs are offered free to the community, they are made possible through grants, donations, community partnerships and fundraising. For more information about Operation Read, visit www.operationreadusa.org or contact Muraski at deeanna@operationreadusa.org.
