In an inspiring event at Villas Elementary, students had an opportunity to add to their personal libraries, as each child selected two books to keep, courtesy of a collaboration aimed at fostering a love for reading among young learners.
Isaiah, a student at Villas Elementary, shared his enthusiasm for the event, noting the importance of reading. “Why is reading so important? Because you get to learn pronunciations and new vocab words,” he explained.
This special gift of literacy is made possible each year through the partnership between FOX 4, the Scripps Howard Fund, Scholastic, and local schools. The program focuses on providing two free books to students, emphasizing the critical phase of kindergarten through third grade, where mastering reading is essential.
Lisa Rogers, a literacy coach at the school, pointed out the deeper impact of reading on students’ development. “What they don’t even realize is happening in the background is they’re growing connections, they’re growing their vocabulary, they’re learning more complex sentence structure,” she said.