HOLLYWOOD, Fla. – There was a book party on Thursday at Stirling Elementary School in Hollywood and the Elephant and Piggie series was a favorite.
The children welcomed the free books for the summer while celebrating the Local 10 News 7th annual Big Book Drive-Thru, a My Future My Choice community-sponsored program. Most of the students need all the help they can get.
This year, nearly 90 of the school’s third-grade students took the Florida Standards Assessments and 40% tested at level 3 or above for language arts, according to the Florida Department of Education records.
Some of their parents may not be able to afford new books. More than half of the students at the public school on Stirling Road were eligible for a federally assisted meal program, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Some of the sponsors of the event at Stirling were Pearl Momma Studios, Twisted Roots, and Weston Moving and Storage.
During the last six years, the Big Book Drive has distributed about 146,000 books to children in South Florida. This year there will be thousands more.
For more information about the effort, contact Mayte Padron, the Local 10 News’ community relations director at MPadron@Local10.com.
DATA
Schools in need of books
Persistently low performing schools in Broward County
- NORTH SIDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- DILLARD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- WALKER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- MARY M BETHUNE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- LARKDALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. MONTESSORI ACADEMY
- VILLAGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- ROBERT C. MARKHAM ELEMENTARY
- ORIOLE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- CHARLES DREW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- ROCK ISLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Persistently low performing schools in Miami-Dade County
- GOULDS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- LORAH PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
- WEST HOMESTEAD K-8 CENTER
- BROWNSVILLE MIDDLE SCHOOL
- HOMESTEAD MIDDLE SCHOOL
- MADISON MIDDLE SCHOOL
Source: Florida Department of Education
TIPS
List of tips on how to raise a reader
- Read to your newborn and vary the pitch and tone of your voice to impersonate the different characters.
- Allow your children to watch you reading often, so they can model the behavior.
- Take turns to read out loud to each other with older children and ask questions about the content.
- Find engaging content. If your child is interested in dinosaurs, find a comic or a graphic novel about it.
- Turn reading into a daily routine before bed and away from the mobile phone, or tablet, and start a small age-appropriate book collection.
- Stay in touch with your local public library for reading events.
Source: United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund