The Fort River BOOK CLOSET
A Critical Volunteer Opportunity!
Did you know that Fort River has a Book Closet with over 10,000 books? Did you know that dozens of books go in and out on a DAILY basis to support the Teacher's College Reading Workshop classroom model that the district has embraced for literacy instruction? Book Closets are used in a different way from a Library--while Library books are organized by subject and author, Book Closet books are sorted by "Just Right Levels" and offer readers many choices at each level. Fort River, Crocker Farm, and Wildwood ALL have Book Closets and each have serious issues in terms of space, organization and the need for improved infrastructure so they can be used more effectively by our teachers.
This month the PGO's of our three elementary schools are applying for a $25,000 grant from the Rotary Club which would support acquiring materials needed to update and improve these closets, but will require many hours of volunteer labor to sort and level books (this means to determine a reading level and label). WW and CF are lucky to have volunteers who recently sorted and leveled their entire inventory. FR is in desperate need of a few book-loving volunteers who would work with ELA Coach Linda Castronovo to prepare for this major upgrade of our Book Closet.
This is an opportunity to do something for Fort River that will really make a difference for our students and teachers. The grant does not support sorting and leveling of books and must be done prior to accepting an award. Please consider helping out and support Reading at Fort River!
Contact Pam Rietkerk (pam.fortriver@gmail.com) or Linda Castronovo (castronovol@arps.org) if you are interested in getting involved in this very important project.
