For Every Class That Reads 100 Books Scholastic Book Clubs Will Donate 100 Books to Children in Need

Sunbury, PA – December 12, 2006 – 53 kindergarten students from Oaklyn are helping others while they help themselves this school year by participating in Scholastic Book Clubs’ ClassroomsCare. From November 1 through December 31, 2006, students in Mrs. Williams’s, Mrs. Vovakes’s and Mrs. Ziegenfuss’s classrooms read 300 books and in turn, Scholastic Book Clubs will donate 100 books for each 100 books read to disadvantaged children nationwide.

Four not-for-profit partners will ensure that the books get into the hands of the hardest to reach and neediest children. Hello Friend®, First Book®, Reach Out and Read®, and Save the Children® will receive and distribute the donations to children in under-served communities across the U.S.

“It’s wonderful to see children helping children through the ClassroomsCare program,” said Judy Newman, President, Scholastic Book Clubs. “Asking classes to read 100 books is a great way to get students to read more. And showing children–for the first time in many cases–that they can make a difference in the lives of others is so important. Through ClassroomsCare, the students of Oaklyn aren’t just reading, they’re reading to give.”

ClassroomsCare was designed to teach children about the joys of reading and giving. By reading the three hundred books these Oaklyn kindergarten students prove that they are good citizens by caring about others.

The following are excerpts by students in Mrs. Yeoman’s fourth grade class at Oaklyn showing that they have learned how to be good citizens.

• I have good citizenship by helping others, being patient, and paying attention in class.
• I think citizenship is when you help people. I think this is what you do to help people, help people cross the street, recycle, help people who are hurt, and be nice. That’s what I try to do every day.
• I think citizenship is when someone is being respectful.
• I think citizenship is helping. It can also mean being nice. I always stay after school and clean desks, wash the board and pick up stuff on the floor.
• Citizenship is putting respect, niceness, and caring for others all put together. For example, if someone falls and gets hurt you could help them. Respect is not yelling at your teacher or being rude. Niceness is being nice and helping everyone.
• I think citizenship is when you help people every day even in the classroom. Be nice.
• Citizenship means to me being nice to each other or helping people who need help.
• Citizenship is helping people. Helping people when they fall down. Don’t laugh at people or tease people.
• Don’t fight or argue. Give people who were in a fire, toys, clothes and paper towels, and people who were in a flood give them a lot of stuff.
• I think citizenship is when someone is being respectful. Being a good citizen you could clean up and help the teacher. For example, you could put toys in for toys for tots. To be a good citizen you help other people when they need it. Those are some ways to be a good citizen.
• Citizenship is when you help almost everything that is alive by giving trees water. To have citizenship you must help animals, plants, humans and wildlife. For example, I go to a place called Mostly Mutts. I walk dogs, feed them and play with them. Citizenship is also helping people that you know. That is what citizenship is.
• Citizenship is helping out others. Being helpful and being nice to others. I do citizenship by giving up recess on day 3 and help to clean the art room after art. I help others when they are stuck.
• I think citizenship is being nice to others. How I am a good citizen is easy. I help other kids when they struggle. I also raise my hand when I have a question. Being a good citizen is showing that you care.
• Citizenship to me is really important because the school gets better and nicer. No one gets bullied. A way for me to show citizenship is to be a friend, to do what I’m supposed to do and clean up after myself. Be nice and caring about the school and other people’s things.
• Citizenship is helping people when they fall. Citizenship is also helping people if they miss their bus. I showed citizenship because one time someone fell and broke his leg and I had to take him to the hospital with my mom. I also showed citizenship by helping a kid because he missed his bus and I walked him home.

All students at Oaklyn not only learn but also practice good citizenship. They understand that every citizen has a responsibility to follow the rules, respect others and contribute to the group. They all take the pledge, “I will try to get along with everyone, every day, everywhere, in every way!”