LAMONT, Calif. (KERO) — The Scripps Howard Fund “If You Give a Child Book” initiative is back and is providing schools in underserved communities with books including Lamont Elementary School.
- In 2017, 23ABC and the Scripps Howard Fund launched their “If You Give a Child a Book” campaign to increase literacy rates in Kern County.
- Students at Lamont Elementary School tell me they are grateful for the rich variety of books available at their library and say they feel inspired to become better readers.
- If you'd like to make a difference in a child's education, you can donate to the campaign here.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Each year, the Scripps Howard Fund provides students in low-income communities with books through their "If You Give a Child a Book..." Campaign. Students at Lamont Elementary School say the books inspire them to continue reading.
"It makes me happy," said student Leila Garcia.
"It helps us grow our minds," said sixth-grader Aileen Hernandez.
According to the fund, children in low-income neighborhoods tend to lack access to quality books, which may prevent them from becoming competent readers.
"There's a gap when kids don't come to school and have that accessibility to books," explained Lamont Elementary School District Superintendent Lori Gonzalez. "So having partnerships like that gives us not only the opportunity to have books for children but also a wide variety of genres."
By providing Title 1 schools, like Lamont Elementary School, with a wide selection of books, the campaign aims to interest students in reading.
"It poses the opportunity for them to become readers outside of these walls which is what we want. We want them to go home and practice because reading is everywhere," said LESD Teacher Maria Rodriguez.
In addition to fiction and non-fiction books, the campaign also provided the school with bilingual books.
According to LESD Superintendent, most of their students are Spanish speakers, so making these books available to them allows them to be culturally responsive to their families.
"There are many times that people think that because they speak only Spanish at home and they read to their kids in Spanish or they tell them stories allowed in Spanish, it doesn't translate over to English language and it does. It translates to literacy in general," said Gonzalez.
If you'd like to make a difference in a child's education, you can donate to the campaign here.
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