To encourage reading in his community, Coventry, RI-based orthodontist William Gordon, DMD (pictured),challenged local students to read during their summer vacation. As areward, he gave $1,000 to the local elementary school with the mostbooks read. The $1,000 award will go toward new reading material.

Western Coventry Elementary School won the challenge for the third time in a row, according to the Coventry Patch, with 385 students reading 4,394 books over the summer.

“Last year we purchased picture books and shared reading books thathelp students with their reading comprehension,” said Karen Guilmette, areading specialist at the school, who told the Coventry Patch in aninterview. “We definitely use the money and we love and appreciate it.”

At the recent award presentation, Gordon announced that next year heis planning to name second- and third-prize winners to get more studentsinvolved.

In addition to the financial donation, Gordon also rewarded afirst-grade class with a pizza party for reading the most books. Thestudent with the most books read in each grade also earned a schoolstore gift certificate.