Some leftover money from a High Impact Leadership grant ought to make many Godfrey Elementary students smile this summer.
The district got permission to use a surplus of $3,000 from the grant to give each elementary student three books before summer break begins. The books were distributed on May 26 and 27.
District Media Specialist Harry Coffill said Tim Smith, operations manager at Schuler Books, helped facilitate the process, first with a “significant discount,” and then by choosing “a nice combination of new and used books, at all different age levels, and (they) nicely packaged it all up for us.”
“I think this is going to be pretty cool; they’ll all have something to read over the summer,” Coffill said.
The unsung hero of the book distribution is media paraprofessional and parent Allisan Reyes, Coffill said, noting, “She’s been at school for a week by herself sorting all these books and getting everything ready to go.”
Reyes, Coffill, teacher Jackie Wearing and several other volunteers bagged the books for the students to pick up when they got their personal items from the school year.
“It makes me happy to know that our school district is thinking about our kids and keeping them learning and their minds sharp with fun books, especially during this hard time with COVID-19,” Reyes said.
