Kindergarten students receive first ‘bag of books’
Kindergarteners at Wiley Canyon Elementary School and Valley View Elementary School are taking home a new set of books to read this weekend.
The two schools were added to the Santa Clarita Valley Education Foundation’s Bag of Books program, which allows students to take home several books a week to share with their family, encourage reading and develop a love of learning.
“This is the first time that our school has been able to benefit from the program,” said TK/ Kindergarten teacher Peggy Richard at Wiley Canyon Elementary. “The opportunity to have a new set of books to read with family members and siblings is going to make a huge difference.”
Jackie Hartmann, executive director of the SCV Education Foundation, said the program is in 28 transitional kindergarten/kindergarten classrooms in 10 schools to impact more than 1,000 students each year.
“We’ve been doing the bag of books program since 2008,” Hartmann said. “We get to do this (personally deliver books to classrooms) about two times per year and this is usually a highlight for us.”
By the end of the school year, students will be able to read 140 different books selected by Renee Marshall, COC’s director of Teacher Preparation Pipeline STEM/CTE Project (TEACH) and SCV Education Foundation board member.
“They get to open the bag of books like a new present every week,” Hartmann said.
The Bag of Books program is fully support by single bag sponsorships of $25 and classroom sponsorships of $1,000. Hartmann said the foundation’s goal is to be in every Title 1 eligible schools; schools with higher percentages of children from low income families.
With the addition of Wiley Canyon and Valley View, the foundation only has three more schools to go.
Until then, students at Wiley Canyon, and the additional elementary schools supported by the program, will be anxiously awaiting their next bag of books to read and learn.
“They were excited about the Bag of Books program,” Richard said of her students. “Thank you to SCV Education Foundation for this opportunity to support young learners in our valley.”