MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- A special awards ceremony was held recently in the Community Services Building to recognize participants of the Summer Reading Program.
Young readers were rewarded for their dedication and reading accomplishments during their summer vacation. Children who read the most books in their age group were awarded with a gift certificate for the Marine Corps Exchange.
The Summer Reading Program was geared to exposing children to a love of books at an early age, a habit that could pay big dividends down the road.
The program also helped children cash in on something much more valuable than gift certificates to the MCX, according to Florence Ouchi, Marine Corps Community Services librarian.
"This is an outstanding program, because it helps children maintain their reading skills over the summer and teaches them how to enjoy reading," said Ouchi. "It also gives the parents an opportunity to spend more time with their children."
Even though only a few could be named as the top readers, all the children were praised for their efforts and received an outstanding readers certificate.
The children who participated in the program did extremely well and were excited about the new experiences they found in reading.
"I'm glad that I did it because it gave me something to do over the summer," said Danny Vazquez, third place winner in the 10- to 12-year-old age group. "I had a lot of fun reading different books this summer."
With most children headed back to school, the library is considering a reading program aimed towards parents and Marines, noted Ouchi.
"I think that Marines would be interested in having a reading program especially if we had a prize drawing every couple months," said Ouchi. "It's important for everyone to read."