rfMiiMhlrih - " Moms and Muffins a Great Start at Mt. Mahogany , " ' !' i"---. '': ' J ' . i ' i r ' ': T NMiMiMliJI i i i " ' ' ' ' - byAngie Walker Mothers and students came to Mount Mahogany Elementary bright and early on Wednesday, April 6, for Moms & Muffins. The purpose of Moms & Muffins is to promote mothers to read with their children so their children can improve their reading read-ing skills. This activity was held in conjunction with the Book Fair where one may purchase one book and get one free so parents can have books in their homes for the summer. "The reading read-ing levels of students fall in the Summer, so we try to keep them reading all Summer long," stated stat-ed PTA President Kristi Beck-strand. Beck-strand. The biggest obstacle to literacy lit-eracy is the scarcity of books in many homes. In Utah sixty-one percent of low-income families don't own a single book. It is estimated that more than two billion dollars is spent each year on students who repeat a grade because they don't know how to read. Eleven percent of the population popu-lation in Utah functions at a reading level of third-grade or below and forty-seven percent of school-aged children aren't reading up to grade level by the fourth grade. Access to an abundance of books at home and in the classroom results in increased in-creased reading, motivation and achievement. Kristi expressed her feelings feel-ings about Moms & Muffins. "I love it," she said. "I am an avid reader myself and I am trying to instill that in my children. You can get so much more out of a book than a movie. It is better all around. I read to them in the car when we are on trips. I try to find something we all like. I have them read to me and try to find books that are interesting to them," she added. The PTA gave a raffle ticket to each student who attended. Games, books, T-shirts, and gift certificates were the prizes which were distributed equally among all of the grades. Wendy ' Cook came with three of her children. "I think it's great because it is a good way for the families to connect with the school. Sometimes it is hard to-get to-get seven kids off to school with a healthy start, so to do Moms & Muffins is a two for one. You ' get to enjoy your children, enjoy what the school is offering aca- At Mt. Mahogany Elementary the purpose of Moms & Muffins is to promote mothers to read with their children so their children can improve their reading skills. Moms, children and some dads lined up for muffins before reading together. Photo COUrtesy of Timpanogos Times demically and make the best of it." Her daughter Kathryn said her mom is "awesome because she is the best mom in the world." Kathryn Kath-ryn also stated she loves all books. Cole Pusey felt it was really re-ally good that his mom came. He brought along his favorite book "Star Wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones" to read. His mother, Jenny, spoke of her feelings about Moms & Muffins. "It's fun. I'm glad they do it. It's fun to get up in the morning and have a muffin muf-fin and read some books," she stated. PTA Treasurer Kim Wright said, "I think it is a great event. A good excuse to spend time with your kids and enjoy breakfast together."