Carol Teague asked how many books the kindergartners had read and eager little hands shot up each time she recited a number. Five books, 10 books, 15 books, 20.

At 25 books some children were coming out of their seats in eagerness and excitement.

One little boy, jolted his hand skyward:

&#8220I've been reading books about basketball.”

Teague said baseball, football and basketball are all sports. Had anyone else been reading books about sports?

Of course they had. Nearly every hand went up.

The W.O. Parmer Elementary School principal said how &#8220extremely proud” of them she was and teachers passed out fruitcicles to the 48 children in the kindergarten's Accelerated Reading Program.

Cameron Cook, laughed and stuck out his orange tongue at his classmates.

Afterwards, they had a parade and teachers gathered outside their classrooms in the hallways of the school to wave at the proud children.

Teague said many of the children enter kindergarten knowing basic words like &#8220exit” and &#8220stop,” but they can't read. The Accelerated Reading program is designed to get children interested in reading, while also allowing them an opportunity to check out their favorite books from t he school's library.

The books are the ones everyone remembers: Three Little Pigs, Snow White, and Sleeping Beauty, among others. Fairy tales and colorful pictures constructed in a way that captures a child's imagination in the way that a moth is drawn to candlelight.

Teague said this is the first group of accelerated readers for the kindergarten.

&#8220We even have two students who are reading at the second grade level,” she said.