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For the month of April, students at Thompson Falls Elementary participated in the annual Running Start reading program.

The program started at the beginning of April with a run around the school playground led by Principal Len Dorscher.

In the program, presented by the Thompson Falls Woman's Club, students read chapters or books depending on their reading proficiency, and then log those and turn them in. After reaching 21 books or chapters, a participant got an entry into a drawing for a Kindle.

The school held the final award ceremony May 4 when the students gathered in the gymnasium. Each grade level, and two extra "second chance winners," were drawn to receive kindles or a new bicycle. After the award ceremony, all the children were given ice cream.

The elementary students read 2,877 chapters or books and one young lady filled out 17 logs. Kayla Faucett was selected as the winner for the fourth grade. According to school secretary Diane Hedahl, "The day we announced that we were going to do this again this year, she came into the office and said, I'm going to win a Kindle this year and she did."

The other winners were Rhett Franklin in kindergarten, Kalsin McGuire in first grade, Kalib Butler in second grade, Kelci McGillis in third grade, Grace Subatch in fifth grade and Jay Sipa in sixth grade. The second chance winners were Cooper Lilly in kindergarten and Aislyn McMahel in third grade.

Thompson Falls Masonic Lodge 70 bought and donated the Kindles, not only for Thompson Falls, but for Noxon and Trout Creek. They purchased seven Kindles for each school and donated a sum of money to each through a program set up with First Security Bank to pay for the bicycles. According to Ted Hogland, the current president for Lodge 70, the masons pay 50% of the price for the Kindles and the National Masonic Foundation pays the other half. "This is a worthwhile program, and the kids seem to love it," said Hogland.