NATCHEZ — Cathedral School students in grades second through eighth are preparing for a nationwide effort to “Read the Most Coast to Coast” on Friday.

The Cathedral students are among thousands of students nationwide who will join in the fourth-annual reading celebration.

Read the Most Coast to Coast celebrates reading with a one-day event that encourages students to read as much as they can. Last school year, students set a new one-day record of 4, 987,949 books read.  Students will also complete Accelerated Reader Quizzes on the books they read.

During the event, Renaissance Learning will track national quizzes on its hosted database and share progress online.  Educators, parents and interested community members will be able to see progress toward the national goal at renaissance.com/read-the-most. Cathedral preschool and first grade students will join millions of their peers across the country to celebrate the sixteenth annual National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America Day on March 2.

NEA’s Read Across America Day, which celebrates Dr. Seuss’s birthday and the joys of reading, expects more than 45 million readers to pick up a book and read.