Throughout Black History Month, Ellwood Christian Academy students are celebrating by reading books by African-American authors for the 22nd National African-American Read-in that kicked off Friday.

Students ranging from pre-Kindergarten to the sixth grade, teachers and staff, proudly held books and wore red ribbons and shirts for “National Wear Red Day” for American Heart Month, to bring awareness about heart disease, the leading cause of death among women.

Jeanie W. Ward, collaborative education coordinator for Ellwood, spearheaded the event and said the students are anxious to read.

“Children nowadays just don’t understand the significance of reading,” Ward said. “It’s just so rewarding to sit and read and I wanted to inspire the children to read.”

Sponsored by the Black Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English and endorsed by the International Reading Association, the read-in was established in 1990 to encourage literacy among African-Americans. Currently, the read-in has more than 1 million participants nationwide.

Ward said the Selma-Dallas County Public Library will reserve special collections for students to check out and Ellwood teachers will have a list of additional reading materials. Ward said students who read the most books by the program’s end, will be rewarded.

Kyra Body, Ellwood Sixth grader, said she’s read more than 50 books and plans to read up to 600 more while in school.

“When you read you gain knowledge,” Body said. “And what you learn will help you in the future to gain great success.”

Ward encourages students who have difficulty reading to also participate and “read for fun.”

“Even older students who struggle with reading can read something simple,” Ward said. “If it’s looking through a magazine or whatever, just read for pleasure.”

The Scary Sleepover, Travel the World, and Dreams Can Come True, were three of more than 15 books showcased by author Angela E. Davis at Friday’s reading kick-off.

For more information on how to participate, call 877-1581.