Some of my favorite articles in PTO Today magazine and on ptotoday.com are profiles of the great work done by parent groups. A new story on how a school in Alaska promotes literacy with an event called the Idita-Read, inspired by the annual Iditarod sled dog race, really captures how creativity combined with volunteerism can result in something special.

Your school might not have a connection to mushers and sled dogs, but there are lots of great ways your parent group can help foster reading skills at your school. And with Read Across America Day coming up on March 2, it's a great time get started. Other ideas include:

• Planning a Family Reading Night. It's a great, low-cost way to reinforce the message that reading is important-and fun-and it's easy to plan with our free kit.


•  Organizing an author visit. Having a children's author visit your school is a great enrichment event that is sure to get kids excited about reading.


• Starting a parent-child book club. A parent group can play a key role in getting some interested parents together to spend some time with their kids in a way that's fun and challenging