Today [Tuesday, March 24] every student at Tallahassee’s Ruediger Elementary School will get two free books of their own choice. It’s part of a plan to boost literacy, education and community engagement in the Big Bend.
The event is a book fair, the second this year at a local Title I school.
“They’re pulling us aside and they’re, like, ‘Are these really ours?’ and ‘Can we take more than one?’ and ‘Can I take ANY book that I’m interested in?’ And it’s just exciting to see them all light up about reading and about finding things that are of interest to THEM.”
That’s Caylee Wilson, the manager of Midtown Reader. She grew up attending Title 1 schools in the Tampa Bay area – elementary, middle and high school. These book fairs are her labor of love. The students can indeed choose books they’re interested in.
“Things that we know are interesting to kids, that they’re watching on TV. For instance, ‘The Last Kids on Earth’ is a TV show on Netflix. We’re going to bring those titles to the schools so they have that interest to start reading along with the things that they’re seeing on TV and on social and on web and all that fun stuff.”
Leon County School Board Chair Marcus Nicolas represents District 5, which contains five Title I schools. To qualify as Title I, at least 51 percent of the students at a school must be dealing with poverty. Nicolas says it’s more like 75 percent at these schools.
“They may come to school hungry. They may come to school sleepy. They may come to school with the same clothes they wore yesterday. They may come to school without jackets. They may come in the winter with shorts because they have no other options. We do food drives for those quite frequently, because the only meals of the day could be at school.”
Nicolas says books aren’t likely to be found in those students’ homes. But now the school district is working with Midtown Reader and the Community Foundation of North Florida to change that. Midtown owner Sally Bradshaw says the Read and Rise project can use books to build literacy.
“We know the challenges that not reading at the end of third grade – at a third-grade level – present in terms of high-school drop-out rates and more likely to need public assistance, more likely to commit a crime. What I don’t think we knew until we leaned into Title I book fairs is what a difference it can make to have a book at home.”
Hence the book fairs.
“Children who receive a book and begin to build their home library are more likely to have a higher vocabulary. They’re more likely to learn critical thinking skills. They’re more likely to stay in school – just because they are surrounded by books at home. So, our goal is to build that home library.”
The book fairs are just for the kids and teachers. But the public can help with donations and by volunteering to mentor kids with their reading. Here’s School Board Chair Nicolas:
“Don’t underestimate the power of volunteering in a school. Don’t underestimate the power of reading to a kindergarten, a first-grade, a second-grade, a third-grade, a fourth-grade class. Don’t think that that hour you spent there didn’t make an impact. Because it absolutely did. You’ve exposed and engaged students in a way they wouldn’t have been exposed and they wouldn’t have been engaged earlier.”
Last month there was a Title I book fair at Oak Ridge Elementary, and next month there will be one at Hartsfield Elementary.
