PEMCO partners with the Seattle Seahawks to tackle youth literacy

PEMCO has partnered with the Seattle Seahawks since 2024, connected by our shared commitment to youth and education, and specifically youth literacy. We’re teaming up for a three-year collaboration aimed at empowering young readers and ensuring they have access to the books and the support they need to succeed academically.   

Supporting youth on their path to graduation is one of the core initiatives of the PEMCO community impact program, and literacy plays a significant role in helping them reach their highest achievement levels. Our commitment to education started with our founder, a schoolteacher, Robert J. Handy. We invest in education programs that provide the instruction, resources, and tools they need for success. Enter the Seattle Seahawks 12 Pages Reading Program, which inspires a love for reading for our youngest learners.  It all begins this summer with the Summer Reading Challenge. 

Last year, we had more than 330 students take part in the 12 Pages Summer Reading Challenge and collectively they read more than 722,800 minutes. This year, we are excited to go even bigger! Our goal is to capture more than a million minutes read by 500 students. Are you in? 

Register, track, and share  

• Step #1, register today. If you have a young reader and live in Washington State, sign up for the 12 Pages Summer Reading Challenge online! Students from Kindergarten through grade 12 are encouraged to sign up, track their reading progress and enter their minutes for the chance to win incredible prizes. 
• Step #2, read and log your minutes. Log your weekly minutes and submit during the submission period starting July 28, for the chance to win cool prizes, a school visit, or the chance to be recognized on the field at a preseason game.  
• Step #3, share! Share your latest reading adventures for the chance to be featured on the Seahawks Community Instagram page and PEMCO social pages through July.  

What are school visits? 

These visits are filled with energy, prizes, and reading as Blitz, Seahawks dancers, and Seahawks Legends who share their love of reading with students. Throughout the 2024-2025 academic year, we visited six Washington Elementary schools that serve low-income families. In addition to the assembly, schools receive a donation of books and school supplies collected as part of the PEMCO annual Supply Surge Book and Supply Drive.  

Read the most minutes during the 12 Pages Summer Reading Challenge, and you’ll secure a school visit of your own! These assemblies are a fun way to engage young readers. See for yourself, King 5 Evening recently joined our team at Tukwila Elementary. 

How can I get involved? 

There are many ways you can get involved and support young readers! If you have a young reader in your life, encourage them to sign up, track and submit their reading log, and share their reading adventures!  

This July, we will be hosting our annual Supply Surge Book and Supply Drive, collecting books and school supplies for low-income schools throughout Washington and will be delivering these books during our 2025-2026 school visits. This is one way to get books in the hands of kids. Look out for the drive, launching mid-summer. 

Back by popular demand, The Book Report 

Another great way we aim to inspire young readers is through The Book Report. Through this video series, we give the microphone to four young kids, and they get to ask Seattle Seahawks players any question, including about their favorite books—past and present. We have renewed the series in 2025 and expect more hard-hitting interviews later this summer.  

Ready, set, read! 

We hope you are as excited as we are for a summer full of reading, fun, and football! Sign up for the 12 Pages Summer Reading Program and help us reach a goal of one million minutes!