Joseph Book Donation

On Friday, May 31, the fifth grade students at Charlevoix Elementary were able to get a jump start on their summer reading through a generous donation of books by school board member Dick Joseph and his wife Allison. Each student was able to choose a book from a vast array of titles and genres to take home to read for the summer.

During the month of March, Dick came in to all the fifth grade classes and read aloud to them in conjunction with World Read Aloud Day during “March Into Reading.” He enjoyed himself so much and was inspired by the number of books the fifth graders were reading that he wanted to do something to give back to the students.
So, he and fifth grade teacher Carol Madison worked out a plan. What they came up with was a book exchange of sorts. Each child would get to select a book, read it, then write a one sentence review on the inside jacket along with signing their name. After reading, students would be encouraged to trade books with other students over the summer. In the fall there will be an exchange day where the books will be traded again. In this way, each student will have the opportunity to read all sixty titles that were ordered.

So, plan in place, Carol ordered the books keeping reading levels and interest of the students in mind to insure something for everyone. The books arrived and the excitement grew as the students saw all the titles that were coming out of the boxes. At last, on Friday all the books were set out for the students to peruse. Each of the three fifth grade classes was allowed to look over the books and then choose the one that they wanted to read first. Many of the students even talked about getting their book read before school ends Thursday so they could trade with someone as there were so many books they saw that they wanted to read.

 The students and teachers are grateful to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph for their generosity and were very excited to be able to thank them in person as Dick and Allison came to the school during the distribution. The Joseph’s, being equally pleased with the quality and variety of books, encouraged the children to read a lot this summer as well as telling them about the importance of reading.