91��Ƭ��

Book-A-Palooza books come from Scholastic

Farrell Elementary teachers Amanda Davidson and Melissa Garcia’s classes were upset they left��school early Monday afternoon.��

But that was only until they found out where they were going.��

“They got super excited,” Davidson said as she told them they were headed to pick out books at the seventh annual Book-A-Palooza. ��

With the help of 91��Ƭ��’s state and federal interventions and operations department (SFIO) and Clifford the Big Red Dog, representatives from all Title I elementary and junior high campuses in the district visited the warehouse for a special shopping trip. ��

Their mission? To carefully select books to take back to their��students and promote a love of reading.��

“It’s all about self-selection,” said SFIO director Julie McGuire. “If we want kids to be true readers, we want them to enjoy it by finding the stories that they like.”��

Morton Elementary librarian Jason Rizy felt the same way.��

“One of my biggest goals every year is to teach the kids to read for fun and do it because they want to,” he said. “Book-A-Palooza connects to that because we get to choose books that we know the kids will be interested in.” ��

Once the books are collected and transported back to the campus,��each school hosts their very own book fair, allowing kinder through eighth grade students to choose two free books before heading home for the summer. ��

“At our campus, this is one of the only ways our kids are able to get books in their hands,” Garcia said. “They love it, and they are so appreciative every single year.��It’s so awesome that we’re able to do this.” ��

Thanks to an incredible community partnership, 91��Ƭ��’s kiddos will be��ready to take on their summer reading. And love it, too! ��

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