COEUR d'ALENE - Skyway Elementary second-graders were presented with a free ticket to Silverwood Theme Park by the orange, furry cat, Garfield, on Tuesday.

What did the kids do to get a free ticket?

Read books.

Skyway is one of 379 schools across Washington, Idaho, and Montana that takes part in "Reading is the Ticket" that rewards students for 10 hours of recreational reading.

"I've read Percy Jackson, and Jake and Annie," said second-grader Marcus Butler. "Sometimes I read 30 minutes a day, and sometimes 80 minutes."

The program just completed its 12th year, growing from 4,000 tickets to just under 60,000 tickets this year. Silverwood also reached the $10 million mark for tickets it has donated,

In celebration, Garfield paid a special visit to Skyway Elementary, which had 377 students between the first and fifth grade who reached the 10-hour recreational reading goal.

"This is the first time we have had the highest amount of readers in the program," said Skyway Principal Kathy Liverman.

Lora Seaman, school librarian, has helped with the program for four years and said participation has increased.

"The amount of kids has gone up every year, it's a rush at the end, they all want to get their forms in," Seaman said.

Nancy DiGiammarco, Silverwood spokeswoman, emphasized the importance of learning and said she was happy that Silverwood could be a part of something like this.

"Teaching kids to enjoy reading in their daily lives is critically important," DiGiammarco said. "We're extremely happy to help reward and inspire kids with this program."

Schools and educators looking to enroll their students in the program for next year should call Knowledge Unlimited at (800)-356-2303.