Teachers, staff members and reading specialists at East Salem Elementary went above and beyond on Thursday, Oct. 4 to get students interested in ‘reading for the record.’

All around the country, students and other reading enthusiasts read “Ladybug Girl and the Bug Squad” as a part of Read for the Record, a national effort started by Jumpstart to “celebrate literacy” and get millions of folks reading.

Last year, according to the Jumpstart website, participants totaled around 2.2 million readers; Jumpstart–and the book-lovers at East Salem Elementary–hoped to break that record on Thursday, Oct. 4.

Kristen Wilkes, Sam Court and Janice Simmons dressed up as characters and reenacted scenes from the book, while Nancy Bader read to the students.