As the Phoenix Final Four Local Organizing Committee prepares for the 2026 NCAA Women’s Final Four events from April 2-5, over 21,000 students have participated in Read to the Final Four over the last two years.
Per Women’s Final Four:
Read to the Final Four is a free literacy challenge that encourages Arizona third graders to build strong reading habits through a bracket-style competition based on the average number of minutes read per week.
Third grade marks a critical stage in literacy development, as students transition from learning to read to reading to learn.
Since the competition’s launch on Nov. 3, 2025, 190 schools and 12,082 third-grade students across Arizona have logged a combined 16.7 million minutes read to date.
Teachers have said, since starting the program, students raise their hands more often to read and show more confidence in general.
The winning school gets a field trip to Tourney Town the week of the Women’s Final Four.
Eliav Gabay
