Giveaway sparks love of reading
It was a touch of Christmas in August as Desert Garden Elementary School students scrambled to find just the right read among stacks of free books given away Thursday.
The Kiwanis Club of Early Risers in cooperation with The Salvation Army donated 1,000 books so every student at Desert Garden could select two free books to take home.
It is one aspect of Kiwanis’ larger literacy project and in tandem with The Salvation Army which recently accumulated 2,000 books, it all coordinated nicely with a backto-school event, noted Bob Holzman, Desert Garden sixthgrade teacher and a Kiwanis Early Risers member.
“We adopted the ideal of Kiwanis that the work we do should improve the quality of life,” said Holzman. “Literacy is at the core of improving the life of children.”
As second-graders from Pat Abatti’s class assembled in her classroom, Holzman informed them that Kiwanis wants to make their life better.
“Being able to read will make you successful,” Holzman stressed. “Be careful when selecting a book. Open it up and make sure this is a book (you) can read.”
It was the first book giveaway at Desert Garden and the staff was ecstatic because it wanted to celebrate literacy, noted Ceci Heraz, Desert Garden principal.
“We want kids to get excited about books, especially in this day and age of social media — that’s our competition,” said Heraz. “I’m grateful to Kiwanis and Salvation Army supporting this endeavor.”
Excited with the choice he made, Julian Avila, a second-grader, proudly showed off his book, “Flik the Inventor (A Bug’s Life)” by Victoria Saxon.
“I think it’s great,” said Julian. “I like the part where the bugs are building (in the forest).”
Brandishing both of her books, Euna Oh, another second-grader, remarked she liked the “Tarzan” one because the apes were caring for the human baby.
But she also enjoyed “Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus” for the depictions of ice skating.
“I like to skate,” said Euna. “And they got an evil wizard.”
Abatti noted it was awesome Kiwanis gives away books especially considering how expensive books can be today.
“The kids got really excited, all week they kept asking, ‘Is it Thursday?’” recalled Abatti. “There’s just so many books to choose from so the kids can select books about the topics they’re interested in. Many of them were looking for the ‘Curious George’ and the ‘Berenstain Bears’ book series.”
As reported previously by the Imperial Valley Press, Kiwanis Early Risers Club plans to provide books across Valley schools in ways to best serve each school.
The club already donated books to the ASES Program at Lincoln, Hedrick and Martin Luther King Jr. elementary schools and also at Calexico High School.
“The Kiwanis Club believes investing in the literacy of our children and it is a crucial step towards improving their academic progress here in Imperial Valley,” Holzman said.