You darn kids turned us all into Cuban Petes getting ready to start this congratulations conga line. We don't like to party alone, so put on your puffy shirts, grab your maracas and get in line. It's time to report on Bookmans 2011 Reading Challenge and reward the students who read their hardest over the past month. We tip our sombrero to all the students because they put their noses in over 730,000 books since the beginning of our three-month-long challenge. With $15,000 at stake these students are upping the ante while increasing literacy.

[Bongo beat please] The second-stage winners in all three markets with the highest average of books read per 2-3 grade student in Tucson is Hudlow Elementary, Power Ranch Elementary in Mesa and the Flagstaff Junior Academy! [Confetti rains from above, trumpets blast and everybody does the cha-cha-cha]. The party has only one month left but you can bet these kids will read over one million books by the end of this challenge.

Continuing to promote literacy and a love of reading, we kicked off the fifth Bookmans' Reading Challenge on January 17. This contest is Arizona statewide and open to any public or charter school that wants to participate. Schools are competing in this three month challenge to read as many books as possible and the school with the highest amount of books read per student wins $15,000.