Kids “Have The Power” On Kids’ WB! When They Take Over Saturday Morning

(May 30, 2001 – Burbank, CA) — Kids’ WB! sent a challenge to kids and schools across America in March – to read as many books as they could during “The Premiere Kids’ WB! POKÉ-READ-A-RAMA Challenge.” The in-school reading initiative, supported by a national on-air Public Service Announcement (PSA) campaign, invited kids and schools to participate in an exciting read-and-win program that rewarded students for their participation and efforts to read. After a month of fast and furious reading, the winning school is… Lagunita Elementary School from Salinas, California. As part of the grand prize winning package, students at Lagunita Elementary School will be “stars” for a day – as the first-ever school to co-host a morning and introduce Kids’ WB!’s Saturday morning line-up on June 9 (8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. ET/PT). Joining these winning students to help co-host the morning event will be multi-talented voice actor, Jess Harnell. Harnell is best known on Kids’ WB! as Wakko Warner of the popular animated series “Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs,” and has done guest-voice appearances on other series, including “Warner Bros.’ Histeria!” Lagunita Elementary is one of 65,000 schools across the country invited to participate in “The Premiere Kids’ WB! POKÉ-READ-A-RAMA Challenge,” an in-school literacy program that encourages kids to read. The program was a national success – with a total of nearly 1 million books read by schools in 48 states and Washington D.C. The reading initiative was developed under the direction and guidance of Youth Media International Ltd. (YMI), and was sponsored by Kids’ WB! and Nintendo of America. Lagunita Elementary won the grand prize by reading the most books per student — 50 books per student! The students who read the most books in their class received an esteemed “Pichu” Premiere Award and a gift basket from Nintendo, given out as part of the reading initiative. Additionally, Lagunita Elementary School received a private screening of “Pokémon 3 The Movie” — the latest big-screen Pokémon adventure, and will receive a $5,000 donation for their school library. The reading program also awarded the additional top nine schools who read the most books with a private screening and donation to their school library. # # #