Cedar Valley High School students visited Eagle Valley Elementary on Friday, Oct. 2, sharing favorite picture books from their own elementary years with younger readers in Draper.

The cross-campus pairing was Eagle Valley's way of joining Utah's inaugural Read-a-Thon, a statewide push that organizers expected to draw roughly 275,000 participants to schools, libraries and workplaces, according to a Utah Reads news release published by Utah Policy. The Alpine School District school in Draper was one of dozens of campuses across the district that took part.

The event comes as Eagle Valley rides a wave of literacy gains. The school achieved 20% or more growth in student reading proficiency in at least one grade level, Alpine School District reported in January. More than half of all Alpine elementary schools earned commendations from the Utah State Board of Education for exceptional literacy growth.

Statewide, the picture is less encouraging. A January 2026 report from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute found only 50.3% of Utah third graders read at grade level in 2025. Utah's Early Literacy Outcomes Improvement Act, passed in 2022, set a goal of 70% third-grade proficiency by 2027.

That gap is what the Read-a-Thon aims to narrow.

"As our students continue to have fun reading and see adults around them reading for fun, we hope their appreciation for literacy will increase," Rich Stowell, Alpine School District's communications director, said in the Utah Reads news release. Stowell joined from 5,000 miles away: deployed to Italy with his Army Reserve unit, he read to fellow servicemembers at the U.S. Army Garrison Italy base library.

Gov. Spencer Cox opened the day with a 9:30 a.m. kickoff livestream and read with students at Guadalupe School. First Lady Abby Cox joined nearly 500 students who spread out blankets in the Capitol rotunda for an hour of reading, as KSL reported. Students there received donated books from Marissa's Books.

Alpine School District's participation stretched beyond Eagle Valley. Lehi High School hosted a daylong literacy celebration with reading bingo. Willowcreek Middle School held a 30-minute schoolwide reading period during "Pride Time." Students from Willowcreek Middle School and Lakeridge Junior High attended the Capitol event, according to the district.

Families looking to keep the momentum going can find reading tips, an interactive map of Free Little Libraries and free reading games at UtahReads.org.