Booking with the Pirates is a program where Palatine teams up with elementary schools to encourage reading. High schoolers from Palatine read to elementary students from Lake Louise, Sanborn, Virginia Lake, Jane Adams, Lincoln and Winston.

“I vividly remember the high school students coming to read to me when I was in third grade and I’m so excited to get the chance to do it myself,” Abbie Choi, a junior cheerleader at Palatine High school, said.

The program encourages third and fourth grade students to read more books by providing incentives such as winning prizes. The students can win T-shirts, backpacks, and a free ticket for their families to attend a Palatine high school basketball game.

At the basketball game, the students will get a chance to watch their principals participate in a free throw contest.

Students athletes at the high school hosted an assembly to share information about the contest and to read books to the kids.

The kids were so excited to watch the high schoolers and interact and ask them questions, and it truly gets them excited about reading. While the elementary students were excited to see us high school students, the high school students felt just as excited to be there.

“Being back at Sanborn and seeing my teachers was nostalgic for me,” Jill Gow, a senior cheerleader at Palatine, said. “I felt so happy to be back and to read for the students.”