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From today’s Seattle Times Reading becomes students’ wedding vow

To encourage students to read, school principals do some crazy things: Kiss a pig, sit on the roof, shave their hair or dye it pink.

But Rickie Malone at Madrona K-8 tops them all: She’s getting married.

To get an invitation to Malone’s wedding in the Seattle school’s gymnasium, students had to read every night for three of the past four months — 20 minutes for elementary students, 30 minutes for middle school.

Usually, about 80 of the school’s 432 students read that much each month. With the wedding as incentive, that number soared. In all, close to 360 students received invitations to the Valentine’s Day event, which was sent by mail to their homes on fancy paper.

As one of our daughters is beginning to read, Ted and I are realizing more and more the power of literacy. It’s pretty amazing to see what she can learn now all by herself.

I confess I’m not sure if I’d open my wedding to include an entire school; there’s an intimacy about the ceremony that seems meant for a quiet occasion. Then again weddings take place in community and this is a wonderful way to celebrate. I hope that the children’s love of reading and the bride and grooms love for each other both last a very long time.