The Frisco Independent School District (FISD) and its librarians are hosting a Together Eating Reading and Talking event (TREaT) on Saturday, Nov. 13 to advocate for literacy while supporting local businesses. 

The one-day event is open to all FISD students, as well as families and staff. Local restaurants and coffee shops participating in the event will offer discounts for those who come in to read, eat, and talk.

Frisco High School’s librarian, Mindy Purcell, shares her reasons for initiating the event.

“I came up with the idea because I wanted to form partnerships with businesses that could easily be supported by the community while promoting literacy,” she said. “It’s easy to read a book and talk about it over a meal or while drinking coffee.”

Blaze Pizza, Chop Stop, Simply Thai Bistro, Taco Shack, and The Pop Parlour are a few of the businesses that are participating in the event.

TREaT also aims to encourage students to read more often and support their libraries.

“Supporting reading and libraries is important because it not only fosters our growth and education, but can also be an escape from work, especially for high-schoolers,” Leah Biju, a sophomore at Independence High School said. “TREaT is an event that makes reading more enjoyable and encourages us to read more often.”

Pallavi Tumuluru, a junior at Centennial High School, shared her thoughts about TREaT.

“I don’t see too many highschool students reading books during their free time, and I think TREaT is a good motivation,” she said. “With fun events that promote literacy in a new way, people will be more inclined to read and talk about what they have read.”

There will also be a contest between FISD schools for the most number of TREaT participants. 

“To receive credit for the contest, students will need to post a photo on social media and add their campus name to the TREaT hashtag,” Purcell said. “The school with the most participants will receive a popsicle party.”

For more information about the event, visit the TREaT website.