First, kudos go to Caroline Lovett and Kay Kamiyama who recently spearheaded an awesome new reading program at Fuller Middle School!

 

Second, additional kudos go to Principal Wood, the Fuller PTO, ELA Chair and teachers, and all other staff members who collaborated on a new approach to both encourage reading and to raise money for families in their school community.

 

Third, super kudos go to Fuller students who read their way through a 4-week readathon and raised money for their fellow students and families. Please see below for details on Pennies for Pages!

 

Not only did this program and our students raise over $3,000 to support 40 families, it increased book circulation by 60%! This collaborative effort was successful because of the shared effort to make books available and accessible, to ensure books aligned with students' interests, the program was promoted through PTO efforts, and because reading time was built into the weekly schedule during Flex block as 'Free Reading Fridays'. 

We heard that many students loved rising to the challenge. One student asked sponsors for 1¢ per page and was able to raise over $100 and several students raised over $200 each. 

We love hearing this and sharing this! Keep up the great work!

For more on the increased circulation in Framingham schools, take a look at this Metrowest Daily News article: Students in Framingham are checking out more books from the school library. Here's why. (In short, more books aligning with student interest have been added to circulation - including manga, Japanese graphic novels; more Portuguese-language books have been added to the shelves, and teachers and Administrators have been supporting independent reading in new ways.)