Pizza Hut's BOOK IT! Program Celebrates 30th Year

Pizza Hut celebrates its BOOK IT! program's 30^th anniversary for encouraging previous participants to sign up for the alumni initiative.

BOOK It! Alumni Program started on October 1 along with the launch of its reading app that will make reading efficient for participants. A $30,000 College Plan sweepstakes will also be given away to one student who finishes his or her reading plan for the school year 2014-2015.

For the past three decades, the program rewards school-aged children free pizza once they reach their reading goals. According to CNN, it's the longest-running corporate-supported reading program. There's a total of 60 million participants reading 50 billion words for the past 30 years, which meams 1 out of 5 Americans in the proper age range have joined the program.

Pizza Hut U.S. President David Gibbs said, "At its core, The BOOK IT! Program helps instill a love of reading among young people and that is why it has stood the test of time and is still loved by educators all over the country."

In celebration of its 30^th anniversary, Pizza Hut find and engage BOOK IT! alumni to sign up to the program. They're entitled to a code that's good for one-topping personal pan pizza in participating stores. The pizza is only available for carryout purchase.

The website shows an interactive map that shows where in the world BOOK IT! alumni are. The map shows the name and careers of those who signed up. Teachers who joined the program are also part of the celebration.

According to the site, BOOK IT! started in 1984 and has been motivating 14 million students in 38,000 schools to read annually. They reward a child's reading accomplishments with "praise, recognition, and pizza." The reading challenges match the student's ability so every child is eligible to join the program.