National Young Readers Week: Milwaukee Fire Department inspires students at Maple Tree Elementary

MILWAUKEE -- When was the last time you read to your child? This is a good week to pick up a book and participate in National Young Readers Week.

National Young Readers Week is an annual event held during the second week of November, to raise awareness around the importance of reading -- and a local school is doing its part to inspire young readers.

From the time Principal Debra Rash arrived at Maple Tree Elementary School on Thursday morning, November 12th she didn't stop reading.

As part of National Young Readers Week, principals across the country were encouraged to spend their days reading to students.

That's a lot of reading, so she called for reinforcement.

Several firefighters from the Milwaukee Fire Department stopped by to display their rig, teach the students about fire safety and of course read to them.

Principal Rash says bringing in community leaders is a good way to make a positive impact on the students.

"We want to encourage our little ones to develop a passion, a love, a joy for reading early on," said Principal Rash.

And this type of activity reinforces the idea that reading is important at any age and that everybody needs to be good readers for any job.

"Reading is fundamental and you can't do much in life, in terms of success, if you can't read," said Principal Rash.

National Young Readers Week was co-founded in 1989 by Pizza Hut and the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress.