One local 4-H group found a way to get kids involved with reading in a fun and engaging way.

The M-40 Hustlers 4-H group recently participated in the “4-H is on Fire to Read” challenge. The competition was part of a Cass County-wide reading initiative. Different 4-H groups and age groups competed against each other to see who could read the most.

M-40 Hustlers, with under 10 participants, achieved the most pages read in the competition, with 7,379 pages read between the children.

“Reading is important for these kids, because it’s how you learn a lot of information,” said Linda Preston, a key leader of the M-40 Hustlers. “It’s just a good way to educate yourself.”

One of the group’s readers was also the top reader for the 9-12 year old reading group.

Established in 1957, the M-40 Hustlers is one of the oldest groups in the county. The 25 members of the group, ranging in age from 5 to 25 years old, meet monthly in the Pokagon Township Hall.

The group does everything from showing animals like pigs, cows and hedgehogs at 4-H to sewing, quilting and basket weaving. Some members even work on projects like photography, art and cooking.

The group also is volunteers for a number of community service projects including roadside cleanup, fund raising for the food pantry and making cards for veterans.

With such a wide-variety of activities, the reading competition fit right in for the M-40 hustlers, Preston said.

“We received notice of the competition from the county, and I knew I wanted to get the kids involved,” Preston said. “I went to the kids and said, ‘look, I know you read anyways, so here’s a great way to log what you do. Let’s see how many hours of reading you can get in.’”

The kids gave it their all and were happy to have achieved something through reading, Preston said.

“They were pretty excited,” she said. “They thought it was pretty cool.”

As an award for the most pages read, the group will receive a learning program from the county.

“It should be something educational that the kids want to learn more about,” Preston said. “I’m going to try to find something they are all interested in.”