Throwing it to the universe

[DCJenn]

OK- everyone getting ready to move- if you have any used paperbacks (or hardbacks) that are appropriate for 7th and 8th graders, one of our teachers is desperately trying to shore up the crappy library available to the middle school students. They made our elementary school an 'academy' which means it goes through 8th grade but- the middle school is still playing catch-up.

Things like Agatha Christie novels, Sherlock Holmes books, HG Wells, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Jack London, etc. Books like Sounder, National Velvet, The Red Pony, Anne of Green Gables (the whole series would be great!), Robin Hood, A Christmas Carol, etc.

You can send them media mail (aka CHEAP) to me. (and take a tax deduction from the Bonham Academy PTA- I'll even send you a letter)

PM me for the address.

Thanks in advance!

J.

[diggitydot]

We have a metric assload. Let me go through a few dozen boxes and I'll PM you for the addy.

[HouseofWool]

W - just what does a metric assload measure? Volume? Weight?

[SoonerTexan]

DH has a ton at his parent's house--next time we go down, I'll check

[DCJenn]

Thanks, all. It's pathetic. In the meantime I just submitted a grant application to one of the neighborhood associations (the one w/ all the money) so that we can fund arts education since the school system does not. But in good news we funded all of the middle school teachers and several of the administrators to attend a conference on the International Baccalaureate program http://www.ibo.org/myp/ which then feeds into one of the other high schools within the school district. That alone will increase the options for the kids.

Meanwhile, the elementary grades are doing really well. I want the middle school to do just as well.

J.

[MrsK]

Have you thought of having a book fair to raise money? Scholastic does book fairs with schools where students are encouraged to buy books for themselves but also for donation to their classrooms/librarys. Also, Barnes & Noble holds bookfairs to raise money for schools, literary, and arts organization where people can even purchase books on line and a portion of the proceeds go to the charity.

[DCJenn]

We've already done all of the above! The Barnes and Noble thing raised a tidy sum but for our sister fundraising entity (Friends of Bonham)- they do our BIG fundraising events since they're not bound by PTA rules (like we had a mojito making lesson and tasting at one of the local restaurants sponsored by FoB) Scholastic funds go directly to the library but our library IN the school is geared toward the PreK-5th Grades. We also do the Boxtops for Education thing and ecourage our parents to purchase their online purchases through that site as well. Pretty much we beg, borrow and steal (ok, not steal) from anyone and everyone.

Jenn

[diggitydot]

I've run a few of our local Scholatic book fairs. They can be pretty lucrative for the schools. You can also set out a classroom donation board where individual teachers make wish lists and students or parents can but books foe their classrooms.

We also didn't give all the funds earned from Scholatic directly to the librarian. She's one of those who only gets books at grade level for the highest grade in the school. So if you have a 5th grader doing 8th grade work, they're SOL because she won't bring in higher level materials for those who'd utilize it. And she also refused to bring in graphic novels or comic books because they aren't "real" reading. Whatev, lady. They encourage kids who don't like reading to read. But why on earth would a librarian wanna do that?!

Sorry. Tangent.

We used to pick 50% of the funds in books the kids wanted and give the other half to the librarian to do with as she saw fit.

[DCJenn]

We have to buy everything in both English and Spanish so it adds up fast. We also (sadly) don't have a lot of parental participation in the Scholastic thing. We have a subset of parents who don't participate in a lot- I don't know if it's lack of time, money, understanding, or what but it's frustrating. I get having to work two jobs- I've done it. and I get not having any money. Of course, it was the same subset of parents who wanted to rent a limo to drive the kids around the block at the 8th grade dance. (and couldn't figure out why the school wouldn't sanction it and the PTA wouldn't pay for it) Same group got all mad when we stopped selling sodas at all school functions. But I digress...



J.

[Cinderella]

After looking around I have a hard back set of Harry Potter 1-4 that I'm willing to part with.

[DCJenn]

Awesome- I'll send you the address.

J.

[Cinderella]

Thanks! Got it.

Thanks, all. It's pathetic. In the meantime I just submitted a grant application to one of the neighborhood associations (the one w/ all the money) so that we can fund arts education since the school system does not. But in good news we funded all of the middle school teachers and several of the administrators to attend a conference on the International Baccalaureate program

J.

That's great! I'm hoping to do my internship at an IB middle school this Fall in Tampa. I should find out by the end of June. Hopefully that will open up the chance of working in one and moving up to an IB high school. I attended IB high school and think it's definitely a great option for some students and those are the type of students I love teaching. Good for you on applying for grants. In class the other day we lenared about just how much grant money is out there, you just have to know where to look!