By NEAL WAGNER / City Editor

When faculty members at Valley Intermediate School were looking for a way to get kids more involved in the school’s summer reading program, they didn’t have to look farther than the VIS library.

“The world record book is one of the most checked-out books in our library, so we decided to participate in the Scholastic Summer Challenge,” said VIS Principal Dana Payne.

Through the voluntary challenge, which was sponsored by the Scholastic book company, kids got a chance to choose their own books to read throughout the summer. The kids logged their reading hours from May-August and turned them in upon returning to school.

When VIS faculty members tallied up the school’s summer reading minutes, they totaled more than 1 million.

“We are very excited and proud of them,” Payne said. “Our goal is to improve their reading skills. We always look for ways to motivate the students, because research shows that they lose some of what they’ve learned over the summer months.”

As a result of the VIS students breaking the million mark on their summer reading minutes, the school placed 11^th in the world in the Summer Challenge. The top 20 finishers in the challenge will be featured in the 2013 Scholastic Book of World Records.

“The students loved the idea of getting in the world record book,” said VIS Librarian Mary Foy. “They liked the games and contests on the site and they liked seeing how our school ranked when they went to the (Scholastic) site.”