ESOL students from Northside Elementary in Mrs. Melissa Roysdon’s classroom are helping other children while they help themselves this school year by participating in Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare program, a philanthropy-based literacy campaign designed to teach children about the joys and importance of reading and giving – and to encourage them to read everyday to lead better lives.
This fall, each student is challenged to read 10 books and, in turn, Scholastic Book Clubs, a division of Scholastic, the global children’s publishing and media company, will donate one million new books to disadvantaged children nationwide.
Through this year’s ClassroomsCare program, called “The United States of Reading,” participating classrooms are reading for charities in their home states. They can log onto the ClassroomsCare Web site to keep track of their progress along with their state’s progress. Students, teachers, and parents are invited to go onto the site to see how the reading is making a difference. More than one million books will be distributed locally through three national charity partners whose shared mission is to help put books in the hands of the hardest to reach and neediest children: Reach Out and ReadĀ®. Save the ChildrenĀ®, and the Paiama Proaram.
“I smile every time I hear about a school where through their generosity and hard work, students are making a difference and improving the lives of others by participating in ClassroomsCare,” said Judy Newman, President of Scholastic Book Clubs. “In order to better prepare the children of the 21st Century to live complete and successful lives, we need to energize them to read more books, and read everyday. And showing children that their hard work pays off and they can make a difference in the lives of others is motivating and important as they grow up. Through the ClassroomsCare program, students aren’t just reading, they’re reading to give.”
“Each year, students and teachers alike are thrilled to take part in Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare program and read in order to give books to children who otherwise might have none,” said Mrs. Roysdon. “This year, our class read 280 books!”