HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — United Way hosted its fourth annual Read Across the River Cities at schools in six counties, getting students excited to read.

Third-grade classrooms in Cabell, Lincoln, Mason and Wayne counties in West Virginia along with Gallia and Lawrence counties in Ohio participated.

Last year more than 300 volunteers read to nearly 2,500 students in 137 third-grade classrooms.

Volunteers read the first two chapters of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

"Reading is the foundation to everything. You can incorporate it to math, science, social studies. Getting that foundation for them at a young age and getting them involved in all kinds of books can just broaden their academics," Meadows Elementary teacher Alexandra Evans told Eyewitness News.