(ABC 6 News) – Members of the Rochester school board approved a plan to purchase new reading curricula for elementary school students.

The change will cost over $1 million, which is being paid for in part by local education groups and the Minnesota Department of Education. Rochester superintendent Kent Pekel says the new curricula will teach kids not only how to read, but how to love reading.

“This curriculum brings back in the phonics, teaching kids to decode,” Pekel said. “But it also helps kids develop a love of stories and of characters and of poetry so that they actually do learn to love reading. But if you want to learn to love reading you’ve got to really learn to read.”

The move by RPS comes after officials created the Elementary Literacy Team, which determined the best curricula for Rochester students.