HELENA — Books help kids fall in love with reading, spark their imaginations, and build the literacy skills necessary to succeed in school and life; however, kids don’t always have access to books.
That’s where the Scripps Howard Fund’s, If You Give a Child a Book campaign comes in.
(Watch to see how your donation can make a difference in the lives of Helena students)
Each year, KTVH and the Scripps Howard Fund partner with local schools to reach underserved children living in poverty, with a special focus on the critical kindergarten through third-grade years when children are still learning to read.
“I really like books because they are fun and you can learn different stuff about people and about the past,” Olive Pecora, a second grader at Broadwater Elementary School, says.
Thanks to the If You Give a Child a Book campaign donations, Olive and her fellow students at Broadwater Elementary School will get books.
Kellie Boedecker, Broadwater’s principal, says, “We feel that this is such a gift to our community because we do have a higher level of poverty in our school.”
Last year, donations from KTVH employees and our viewers funded two book fairs for Broadwater students, one in the fall and one in the spring.
In all, the students brought home eight books each!
Norah Pattee is a third grader at the school and shares, “A lot of the books are just really fun to read and make you smart.”
Helping students grow is a central goal of the campaign, and Amber Byrd, a title instructional specialist at Broadwater, has seen that goal come to life.
Byrd says, “There is a list a mile long of the importance of books and reading, but a big one in school is the enhancement to their vocabulary and overall language skills.”
But the books not only bring learning experiences, they bring excitement.
“You can feel it in the air the entire time,” Boedecker says. “When I am checking the books out that they ‘buy’, they are just thrilled.”
Across the country, the employee campaign has raised enough to provide 36 thousand new books, but now it's your turn.
Wednesday is Blitz Matching Day, and nationwide, the Scripps Howard Fund will match 200 thousand dollars, doubling the impact of the book campaign.
“Anytime kids can get their hands on books is a good thing. We know that the more kids read, the better their vocabulary, their background knowledge, and all of those things lead toward better comprehension,” Boedecker says. “This gives their parents, if they do not have books at home, it gives them the opportunity to help support that home-to-school connection.”
You can text KTVHREADS to 50155 to make a donation or visit this link.
