A Wisconsin school has come up with a creative way to make reading more fun for students. 

Somerset Elementary School has a new hammock reading garden.

Several local organizations donated time and money to make it possible.

Teacher Erin Hoff helped come up with the idea for the hammock reading garden.

“Kids of course have great places in their classrooms, but it gets exciting for them if they have one more place they can go and read,” Hoff said. “The kids are so excited. Just this morning kids are walking down the hall and they’re Mrs. Hoff we’re going into the reading hammocks today. I said ‘Yes, good job you guys!'”

The most recent Wisconsin state testing data shows that 3rd through 8th graders are struggling with reading. Between 2019 and 2022, the percentage of students proficient in reading fell by 4 points to 37%.