Pizza Hut Launches Alumni Program On The 30th Anniversary Of Book It

Do you remember scrambling to get your reading done in elementary school so that you could score a free single-topping personal pan pizza from Pizza Hut? Remember the pizza parties and the awesome little pins you could earn as benchmark prizes? You might not have thought about this reading program in a long time, but Pizza Hut is intent on bringing nostalgia to us all. Even if you weren’t a BOOK IT kid, you might have experienced this read-and-eat incentive program as a parent or as an elementary school teacher.

The official website for the alumni program features an interactive map, allowing you to view the first names and current professional titles for former BOOK IT kids and teachers. The map is color coded, so that you can see which states have the highest number of registered BOOK IT alumni. When you hit the “Join Now” button, you’re directed to a brief form asking for your email address, age, current location, occupation, and the name of your elementary school.

So far, alumni will only receive a single personal pan pizza for signing up. So when it comes to adults reading, it doesn’t look we’ll be able to receive goodies every time we read a book right now. However, you can reminisce on your former #BOOKITKid experiences by exploring that hashtag on social media platforms, such as Twitter. Pizza Hut is encouraging registered alumni to share their favorite stories using this hashtag.

Nostalgia isn’t the only goal for the alumni program. In the official press release, Pizza Hut announced that they have also launched an official BOOK IT app in the iOS App Store, so that new generations of readers can track their book progress. Teachers can also log progress from a special dashboard. In addition to these app offerings, Pizza Hut has also launched a $30,000 College Plan sweepstakes, described in the same press release, so that one lucky student can receive the award after they complete all of their reading goals for a single year. So if you’ve got children currently enrolled in the BOOK IT program, make sure that they take these goals seriously. They might have a chance to win some major cash for their upcoming college education!

If you’re an alumnus, you’ll be treated to a single personal pan pizza, and you’ll also get a digital version of a BOOK IT badge, which is reminiscent of the old metal ones you received as a youngster. It will be interesting to see how the alumni program expands as Pizza Hut collects additional information on registered BOOK IT kids. It’s no surprise that former participants are being hit by waves of nostalgia — BOOK IT was founded back in 1984, so multiple generations have had a chance to win pizzas as rewards for completing their reading.

Are you hoping to raise literacy amongst your family members while also competing for scholarship funds and food incentives? The BOOK IT program for kids can be fun for the entire family, while the alumni program can keep the memories alive.