Amy Peterman remembers the joy of reading books as a child and now as superintendent of the Ceres Unified School District is inspiring the newest generation of students to fall in love with reading.

Peterman launched the CUSD Reads Superintendent’s Book Club during her first year as superintendent to encourage students to find their favorite books and read away.

“I still remember reading the Harry Potter series for the first time,” Peterman said. “While I was reading one book, the author was still writing the next one, and I was so excited to go to the bookstore or the library to pick up that next copy and dive right back into that story. That’s why I started the CUSD Reads Superintendent’s Book Club – to help students discover and celebrate the joy of reading.”

The CUSD Reads Superintendent’s Book Club is expanding this year with school pop-up events where Superintendent Dr. Amy Peterman will read to students, discuss their favorite books, and encourage reading for pleasure.

Peterman popped into Caswell Elementary Dual Language Academy on Wednesday to read to students from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. and engage students in talking about books they enjoy. She will repeat the same type of visit at Hidahl Elementary this morning.

The program was intentionally designed to make participation easy. Students read or listen to any book on their own time, write a short review, and earn monthly rewards. Rewards for elementary students include stickers, squishies, and highlighter pens, while secondary students receive digital points redeemable for prizes through their school’s incentive program. In addition, each review counts as an entry into year-end drawings for a bookstore field trip with Peterman.

In CUSD Reads’ first year, students read and reviewed nearly 5,500 books. Last year, students more than doubled that number, reviewing nearly 14,000 books.

For more information about the program visit www.ceres.k12.ca.us and select “CUSD Reads.”