Help Buy Great Books for a Great Class

In my first year of teaching language arts at Sylvester Middle School, a low-income school outside Seattle, I learned two things: Many of our students read below their grade level and that nothing is more gratifying than helping them to become better readers.

Everyday we spend 25 minutes of class time for independent reading, which builds their vocabulary and reading stamina -- crucial for success in high school and college. Students grab books from the classroom bookshelf or check them out from the school library. Problem is, the library has a limited selection and the books on the classroom shelf are outdated and tattered. I've spent $130 of my own money to build up the classroom library but barely made a dent. I need your help to buy more used books and books in bulk from places like Scholastic to help foster a love of reading among students and to prepare them (and future classes) for high school and college.