On Oct. 6, Redmond Mayor John Marchione joined Monica Peter’s kindergarten class at Redmond Elementary School for Jumpstart’s Read for the Record event.

Washington’s First Gentleman Mike Gregoire joined Kari Ely’s kindergarten class at Rose Hill Elementary School in Kirkland for the event as well.

The Jumpstart program, presented in partnership with the Pearson Foundation, is a world-record-breaking campaign that brings together children and adults to read the same book on the same day. The event focuses attention on the importance of early education.

Both Marchione and Gregoire read the official campaign book, “Llama Llama Red Pajama” by Anna Dewdney. Each student received their own copy of the book to take home, courtesy of the Pearson Foundation, which also provided copies of the book for other pre-K and kindergarten classes around Lake Washington School District.