KENNEWICK, Wash. – The sun is shining. The weather is warm, and if you listen closely, you’ll hear the sounds of hydroplanes on the Columbia River for today’s testing. But before that started, some boats made a trip to a local middle school to congratulate them as the Racing to Read program winner.
Racing to Read is a non-profit organization encouraging reading for local middle school students. According to Jayme Brackett, the coordinator for Racing to Read, this is the second year for the program here, locally.
She said over four hundred students from around the Tri-Cities participated. This year’s winner is the Horse Heaven Hills Middle School in Kennewick. The students had to read ten books each to win. As the winners, some of the hydroplanes visited the school.
The H1 Bucket List racing team, the T-33 Spartan Pole Frame boat, and some kneeler outboards were on hand. The cool thing was that these students were able to check these boats out firsthand.
“We let the kids actually get in the boat, so they actually get to experience the boats,” Brackett said. “This year, we’ll actually have the Bucket List here.
The Bucket List won’t be able to come off the tilt because they have to leave for testing. The kids interact with the drivers and get in and experience what a cockpit looks like. “
Brackett is not only the local coordinator for the program but also owns a boat with her husband.
Her son races the T-33 Spartan Pole Frame one point five liter. Brackett said they are currently second in points nationally and first in points in Northwest Region 10.
Horse Heaven Hills Middle School librarian Hannah Fuhriman said the Racing to Read program is a wonderful organization because it helps reluctant readers open a book.
According to Fuhriman, 60 kids at the school took part in the challenge.
“I think they really met the challenge,” Fuhriman said. “It was something they could do for their whole school. Once they heard the boats were possible, like, hey, if you guys really do this, we can have the boats. They were like oh, we get time out of our class to come do something?”
Fuhriman said she is proud of the students. She says summer is typically when students put the books down until the next school year.
However, she encourages parents to have their kids read for 10 to 20 minutes a day. It could be a book, something online, or a magazine.
Brackett said having these boats come to their school was just one part of the prize. The Tri-City Water Follies partnered with Racing to Read to give each participating student a free ticket to this year’s Tri-City Water Follies in July.
