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Local Teacher Competes In National Contest By Reading All Day

TARENTUM (KDKA) - For the principal at Grandview Upper Elementary School in Tarentum, this is a great day.

Heather Hauser gets to spend the day doing something she absolutely loves, which is reading all day long.

"If you have a love of reading, you have a love for reading too. Mine didn't come until I was in high school," Hauser said. "I wasn't a reader when I was in high school, but now I love to do it so I am hoping that just by the kids seeing us do it, that eventually they will get there."

This principal's challenge is part of National Young Reader's Week. It is called "Read Your Heart Out."

That's just what Hauser did.

At 8:50 a.m. Tuesday, she dove into one of her favorite books, and she didn't quit until the school day ended at 3:35 p.m.

Sometimes she had an audience. Other times, she was all by herself, up on stage in the school auditorium, buried in a book.

Laurie Malcolm is librarian of the Highlands School District. She is a big supporter of Hauser's quest to read her heart out.

"It's important for the students to see their leader reading and modeling that, and she has invited everyone to come join her, so it's a great day for everybody," Malcolm said.

Malcolm hopes the kids realize teachers don't just teach reading, they actually do it.

"They are so busy every day and into the evening, grading papers, planning things and getting projects ready," she said. "It's really important for us all in the school community to model that for our children and to be part of that."

The "Read Your Heart Out" contest is part of Pizza Hut's "Book It Program" an initiative that gives kids personal pan pizzas for reading a certain number of books during the school year.

The winner of today's contest among principals receives 101 copies of "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Third Wheel for the School Library."

Hauser hopes it is for her kids in Tarentum.

"I am going to finish today and go back to a mountain of stuff on my desk that I am missing today, but it's worth it to try to get some books for our kids," Hauser said.

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