One of Paula Becker’s favorite things about being a Power Read site coordinator is spending time with elementary school students. “It’s a nice age. The world hasn’t gotten hold of them yet,” she says with a chuckle. Power Read, she adds, does nothing to interfere with students’ childhoods. “They don’t have to be anybody but themselves,” she says. “Nobody criticizes them, and they rarely need to be reprimanded, and when they do it’s always something very minor.” Paula, who coordinates Power Read at Carver Community and Edmunds Elementary schools in Des Moines and served as site coordinator at Western Hills Elementary in West Des Moines this summer, likewise praises the students’ enthusiasm. “It’s always great when they come running in, and they always want books. When it’s time to give away books you have to fight them off,” she says, adding, “I just talk to everybody I can to get people to volunteer to mentor or serve as a site coordinator so we can expand the program.”