By Alicia Vallee
Photos by Alicia Vallee, Donna Krutsinger, and Joel Greene
The last quarter was an incredibly busy time for Kids Need to Read, with inventory, a major fundraiser and many school visits in The Page Coach! Despite this buzz of activities, we sent out books to seventeen recipients in thirteen states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Texas, and Washington. These donations are made possible by you, our generous supporters, book donors, and Adopt a Book Box contributors.
Enjoy learning about the children Kids Need to Read has assisted since our last update:
Arizona PBS Educational Outreach (AZ) requested books for their event, a screening of A Wrinkle in Time. The educational outreach “currently only has grant funding to provide books to families with children birth to age 5,” and relies on additional grants for older children and higher grade levels. Said their Digital Marketing Coordinator, “We want to inspire local youth to dream. We want to empower local youth to become exceptional leaders. We want local youth to see the benefits of serving as a positive light in the darkness.”
Read On Chandler (AZ) had a goal to distribute 750 new books at their yearly Literacy Block party. They hosted fun family activities, all advocating literacy. According to the volunteer who reached out to us, “when they complete the activities at each, they are given a free book (plus literacy tips) to take home and hopefully, replicate the activities at home.” Read on Chandler works with children living in high poverty areas with low literacy levels.
Hoopa Valley High School (CA) is a rural high school located on the Hoopa Valley reservation, where all the students qualify for free lunch. The school librarian requested books because the “school library was closed for remodeling two years ago when black mold was discovered in the building and it has just reopened. We lost a lot of books to the hazards of storage and are trying to refill our shelves.” Donated books went toward replacing those that were lost to the mold.
DSST: GVR High School (CO) is a charter school in Denver. One of the senior students wanted to start a school library for her school project stating, “…the aim is to allow students and staff to have access to books that will expand their minds and reading skills.… Each senior is assigned to come up with a senior project and I feel the importance of enjoying a book has been overseen when students are only given a task to read for a credit in their classes.” Kids Need to Read was happy to help jump-start the school’s new library.
Flora High School (IL) did not have a library for eleven years and just recently reopened. The librarian is also the head of the school’s book club and requested sets of the same title for the students to read and discuss. She is also working on increasing and improving programs for the library. As she stated on her application, “I have implemented an optional rewards reading program with our state’s awards lists, and interest in the library is high. I feel that with more reading material, our test scores can only improve because the students are wanting to read on their own.”
Bridge Ministries of Acadiana (LA) works with an extremely high risk population, where “28% of the people have a high school diploma with 8% having a college degree. The average household income is less than $18,800 per year and the population 16 years or older not in the workforce is 52%. Our academic assessment concluded that in 2016, 63% of our youth were functioning below grade level primarily due to reading and math skills.” Books were sent for their tutoring and after school program, where they will be used to help increase skills and a love of reading.
Pineville Elementary School (LA) is a public school that needed more books for their library, as many are old, or have been damaged or lost over the years. The poverty rate is at 92%, and “out of the 50 schools in our district, Pineville Elementary has the highest homeless population.” According to the principal, “Although we serve a disadvantaged population, the teachers at our school care deeply for our students and the community. Many parents and grandparents try to attend school functions, such as our Family Reading Night because it is convenient for many of the families to walk to the school or catch the city bus.” Kids Need to Read sent books to help them increase their library offerings.
Montpelier Elementary School (MD) is a public school that needed new books for their recently revamped library. Said one PTO member, “We were recently awarded a grant last year to get all new shelving and decorate the library but we still have books from the 1950’s and 60’s in circulation.” They were provided with new, more relevant titles to help update their library.
Randels Elementary School (MI) is located in Flint, Michigan and is a part of the Carman Ainsworth Community Schools. The children here are still being affected by the Flint water crisis and live in areas of high poverty. Upon receiving the books, the special education teacher sent us an email stating, “One of my reluctant readers (who has NEVER read a book independently) read [Go, Dog. Go!] yesterday. Another student (a fan of Dr. Seuss) was thrilled to find Dr. Seuss books in the classroom library to read after he finished his writing. A third student who was having a difficult day was able to turn his day around by helping to unpack the box of books and place them on the shelf. Students in the resource room will truly enjoy reading these books in the days, weeks, and months ahead.”
Ripley County R-III School (MO) is a public school in the small town of Gatewood, Missouri. The town is closely knit, but has little to no diversity. According to the librarian, “these students have had, and will likely have, very few outside cultural influences and connections.” Kids Need to Read sent books to help implement the new “Branch Out” program, which focuses on introducing students to different cultures through reading.
PS 14 Q (Q322) Kindergarten Annex (NY) is a public school serving kindergarten students only. 95% of them qualify for free or reduced lunch. According to the principal, “We have a lot of families that are from countries that have poor living conditions.… Many parents are not literate in their home language as they have not received an education in their home countries.” The books replenished classroom libraries and replaced worn out materials.
The Floating Hospital (NY) is a free clinic in Long Island City that cares for homeless families and domestic abuse victims. Currently, the clinic is working to implement a reading program for their patients. According to the director of health education, “Our health education department does classes and read-alouds with the kids in the waiting room. After each class, the kids in attendance get to choose a new book to take home with them.” Kids Need to Read provided Highlights and Highlights High Five magazines to send home with the children after their checkups.
Diggs Latham Elementary School (NC) is a city public school with a poverty rate of 100%. According to the fifth grade teacher who asked for assistance, “The books in my classroom library come from my personal income.… My kids love to read, but do not have enough variety within the classroom.” The books donated became a new addition to her classroom library.
Okemah Community Summer Kids Café (OK) is a summer food and enrichment program that serves the rural town of Okemah. The teacher who requested the donation stated, “Summer Kids Cafe is not only committed to providing access to vital nutrition but also means where their learning will not “slide” back, by providing literacy instruction and independent reading.” They were given books to help continue their literacy program.
United Way of Southwest Oklahoma (OK) is an organization that asked to receive Highlights magazines. According to the agency’s literacy coordinator, they “distribute books to children through five doctors’ offices in [their] Prescription for Reading Program. The doctors work with children in Sooner Care ([the] state medical program for low income families).” The magazines are also provided to the local food bank for children to read while their parents are shopping.
Fannin Middle School (TX) is a public school that runs a bookmobile summer program, where students are encouraged to pick out books and keep reading during break. According to the curriculum assessment specialist, “Most of [the students] have significant fines—often incurred by other family members—that keep [the students] from checking out public library books. Due to the low socioeconomic status of our demographic, many of our students live in homes where there literally is no reading material.”
Confederated Bands and Tribes of the Yakama Nation (WA) is a reservation with high levels of poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, suicide, and mental and physical health issues. “The achievement gap in regards to education and employment is low among Native American youth nationwide. The majority of Yakama Nation students come from low-income, at-risk families and most are at least four grade levels behind their same-age peers in reading. If Native American students have not already dropped out of traditional high school, they are at risk of doing so,” says the library administrator for the reservation. Books were given to the Head Start program, which focuses on preschool-age children.
Thank you to everyone supporting Kids Need to Read and the Adopt a Book Box campaign! You make it possible for us to get more books out, from our shelves to the children who need them!
Please join us in providing books to children by adopting a book box or making a donation to Kids Need to Read.
Thank you to “From Our Shelves to Yours” funding partner:
Kathy and Jerry Wood Foundation
