Grade 3 and 4 students at Windebank elementary school can win a bike by reading and for at least 90 minutes each month until May.
The Bikes for Books program is initiated by the Pacific Lodge number 16 of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons and supported by Wenting Cycle and Mountain Shop. Pacific Lodge is based in Abbotsford, but is made up of members from Mission as well.
The program encourages children to read for fun.
Beginning on Jan. 5, students in Grades 3 and 4 will receive a calendar to record the amount of reading they do at home. At the end of each month, teachers will tally up the totals. For every 90 minutes a student has read, they will receive a sticker to place their name on an ongoing reading graph in the school, and a ticket in the draw for a bicycle. There will be two bowls for the tickets, one for girls and one for boys.
At the end of April, the final calendar will be collected. When all the reading has been tallied and the tickets placed in the correct bowl, one name will be drawn from each bowl and the bikes will be presented at the May school assembly.
Pacific Lodge No. 16 will supply the two BMX Maverick bikes. After the program is over, a review will be conducted with the school to determine the future viability of the program.
Pacific Lodge No. 16 has a long history in Mission being formed in 1892 by many employees of the CP Railway. Windbank Elementary school is named after one of the members, W.J. Windebank, who was the Master of the Lodge in 1926 and a past mayor of Mission.