Members of the wrestling program and other guests will distribute the 10,000th book to elementary students at 9:45 a.m. Wednesday, June 6 as part of the Shirley Parker Reading Program.
The media is invited to participate in the event.
The Shirley Parker Reading Program was established in 2002 by the North Idaho College wrestling program in partnership with Parker Toyota in honor of Doug Parker’s late wife, Shirley, who was a supporter of both wrestling and reading.
The wrestling team holds a fundraiser at the end of its preseason to support the program. The players collect pledges toward their completion of a mountain climb in Hope, Idaho, typically raising about $1,000 that goes toward the purchase of books for every first-grader in the Coeur d’Alene School District.
Each week during the season, NIC wrestlers and coaches visit a local elementary school to read to the first-graders. The children are encouraged to take their book home to continue practicing their reading skills in addition to receiving a bookmark and poster of the wrestling team.
