A way to keep kids engaged in reading in the Pasco School District: how this Book Vending Machine became a labor of love for a local group, achieving a big goal as students are now setting their own. Rylee Fitzgerald reports. Read the whole story here: https://www.applevalleynewsnow.com/news/book-vending-machine-unveiled-in-pasco-s-captain-gray-stem-elementary-school/article_10fdaff6-07c6-11ef-b810-87fd8538c7af.html
PASCO, Wash. — More books in the hands of students at Captain Gray STEM Elementary School . The school unveiled its new Book Vending Machine Tuesday morning. The goal is to promote literacy and foster a love for reading in its students.
Students can earn tokens, and from there, use those tokens to get a book out of the machine. The students earn those tokens through individual reading goals. Students at Captain Gray set their own goals for academics, according to one school official.
Funding for the Book Vending Machine came from the Lupine Society.
“We're three girlfriends from grade school, we went to grade school together and we've been friends all these years and one thing, we’re ex-educators from the schools and we decided when we retired, we would do something back for the schools,” explained Melissa Bradford, one of the members of the Lupine Society.
They are retired educators, who decided to give back to their community.
“It's just three of us old ladies, just looking for money,” Bradford laughed. That’s how Bradford explained how her and her church, Imago Dei Community Church , have been working to support Captain Gray.
Bradford said the church has more or less adopted Captain Gray, from its members volunteering at the school, to now the Lupine Society fundraising for the new Book Vending Machine unveiled this week.
“Throughout the evolution of the partnership, the book vending machine came up as a topic and a need for our building,” explained Jamie Chavez, a behavior intervention specialist at Captain Gray STEM Elementary School. “Mrs. Bradford, she just took off with it and we just kind of followed suit because she was so excited about it.”
Bradford said it took months to raise the $7,000 for the machine.
“You see that spark in their eyes and then get them excited about reading,” said Alejandro Ortiz, principal at Captain Gray STEM Elementary School.
The Sharks got to test out the book vending machine Tuesday morning.
“I'm just excited to have an opportunity to reward our students for the efforts and the goals that they're setting in their reading, and as you can see, the students were super excited to get new books in their hands,” said Amanda Wilson, assistant principal.
Bradford said this is the Lupine Society’s first project so far, and while there are so many needs around the community, the group is just starting out and looking forward to the next one.
The school is accepting donations of new or gently used books, particularly those in Spanish, or bilingual books. Contact Amanda Wilson , the assistant principal at Captain Gray STEM Elementary School if you’re looking for information on how to donate.
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