Union Valley Elementary School third-grader Max Harris selected "Fly Guy Presents Firefighters" to read to his new buddy Friday afternoon.
"I like how it tells about the firefighters," Harris said.
Blake Smith, a first-grader in Union Valley, 2501 E. 30th, has two dogs at home and his pick to read to reading buddy Harris: "Great Danes."
All Buhler USD 313 schools took part Friday in the district's first Read for a Cause Read-A-Thon. It encouraged students to read and doubled as a fundraiser for Reno County Cancer Council. Parents and students were given the opportunity to donate to the organization that provides services and help to families in the county affected by cancer.
Union Valley third-grade teacher Jenny Mencl and first-grade teacher Amy Delaney partnered their students to read to each other. Mencl has the larger class, so first-grader Bristal Robbins had two older buddies, Kaellyn Wilson and Jamie Nelson. Wilson said her reading preferences are "realistic fiction, fantasy and fairy tales." Nelson likes books about animals.
Students read in the hallways or sitting on the classroom floor. In Nicky Schafer's kindergarten class, nearly 20 students sat on the floor, while their guest reader, Union Valley parent Courtney Gill whose son Jackson was in the class, at in a director's chair as she read three books.
Afterward, Gill said the book that captured their attention the most was Chris Van Dusen's "If I Built a Car." Both boys and girls were highly entranced by that one, she said.