Read around the bases

Stop the presses! Summer vacation has arrived, Playing games and sports is a great way to exercise your body during the summer, so you can be strong and healthy for the next school year. Keeping your mind strong and healthy is important, too. The best way to exercise your brain is by reading.

The Tampa Bay Rays baseball players know the importance of staying healthy and strong and keeping your mind active. That is why the Rays have partnered with the St. Petersburg Times Newspaper in Education program, the Hillsborough Public Library Cooperative, the Manatee County Library System, the Pasco County Library Cooperative and the Pinellas Public Library Cooperative to encourage and reward students for reading.

If you do not already have your "Reading with the Rays" NIE publication, you can pick one up at one of your libraries. In order to participate in this great reading program, you will need to get your game card at your library.

The rules of the Read Your Way to the Ballpark game are simple. Choose your favorite books from your local library or select your favorite section of the St. Petersburg Times to read over the summer. As you read, track your hours by rounding the bases and collect Rays rewards along the way.

We want to know what you are reading, so be sure to come back to the NIE Blogging Zone often to share your thoughts about the books you are reading your way to the ballpark with. Just click on the comment button below to get started.