Community Corner

Letter to the Editor: Buck-a-Book Seeks Sponsors

Businesses and individuals can "adopt" classes.

The Springfield Public Schools' All For One Fund is expanding the very successful Buck-A-Book Reading Incentive Program beyond the Edward V. Walton Early Childhood Education Center to all five of the district's public schools.  As you may already know, over the last two years, our youngest students at Walton have read over 24,000 books and have raised over $25,000 for the Walton Playground Fund that helped complete Phase II of the Walton Playground last spring.  

Throughout March, all Springfield students will keep track of every book that they read.  We're asking local businesses and individuals to "adopt" a class at any of the five schools and agree to donate $1.00 for every book read (up to $250) by the students that month, with all proceeds being divided among the schools' PTAs. To ensure fairness among sponsors, we will divide the total number of books read district-wide by the total number of sponsors to determine the donation for each sponsor. 

Sponsors will again be recognized on signs outside each classroom, banners outside all of the schools and in weekly progress reports.  Sponsors will also have the opportunity to read to their "adopted" class.  This fundraiser is a win-win relationship in that we are raising money for the school district, we are encouraging reading to our children, and you are getting your name out to district's over 1,800 students and everyone that visits or passes by each of the Springfield schools! 

To kick-off the program this year, we will again invite a representative from each business to come into the schools to read a book to their class in the younger grades and to meet with and discuss their favorite books or how reading influences their daily lives in the older grades. We try our best to match businesses with classes that they request.  Sponsors will be recognized on a sign outside their classrooms and also will be featured on all flyers, banners, posters, advertising and press releases about the reading incentive program.

 All proceeds from this program will be divided among all of the Springfield Public Schools.  Money for Walton, Sandmeier, Caldwell and Gaudineer will go to those schools' PTAs to use for programming for our students.  Money for Jonathan Dayton High School will be divided by grade level and donated to the Project Graduation fund for each class.  The Springfield Public Schools' All For One Fund sponsors programming that encourages the participation of the entire community while benefitting all of the students of the Springfield Public Schools.  So far this school year, the All For One Fund's first two events, Trunk or Treat, and Cabin Fever Game Day, have raised over $2,500. 

Your generous sponsorship of Buck-a-Book will make all the difference.  Please join us in helping to foster a love of reading and learning in our children.  If you have any questions, please call me at (908) 522-1442 or e-mail me at schick1027@aol.com. 

Very truly yours,

Jodi Silverstein


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here