Faces lit up as the second- and third-graders watched the junior high school students walk through the doors at Oak Ridge and Glen Oaks schools.

It was all part of the "Book Buddies" program in North Palos School District 117 where students from Conrady Junior High School team up with their younger counterparts from the district's two second- through fifth-grade schools and help them as part of the after-school reading program.

Anita Baltimore, team leader at Conrady, said the program's goal is to spark interest in reading while building fluency.

Baltimore checked out several books from the Green Hills Public Library. Conrady students then chose their favorite stories from those books and read them to students at Oak Ridge and Glen Oaks. 

Conrady students boarded a school bus and headed to the elementary schools, which were the sites for the reading program.

Older students were then paired with younger students, and they read stories to their young charges. While reading to the younger students, the junior high school students asked some thought-provoking questions about the stories.

In several instances, the elementary school students read to their older 'book buddies.'

"This program is bound to be a success," said Christine Warren, a reading enrichment teacher at Conrady. "I have never seen my students so excited and so passionate about something."

The 'Book Buddies" program will continue throughout the school year, and Conrady students will have a chance to develop a solid relationship with their younger 'buddies' since they will be paired up with the same student each time.