OCT 15 MEDIA RELEASE__Pandora Gilboa Elementary school students walked into school this August to find a new addition, a book vending machine.  The vending machine has an outer space theme, including the rocket logo and the slogan “Reading Takes You Places.” The vending machine uses special tokens earned in school.

The book vending machine was purchased with grant money and funding from the school.  The book vending machine is part of a larger initiative by their reading intervention and enrichment teacher, Stephanie Myers.  

Last school year, Stephanie wrote an Innovation Grant provided by the Ohio Education Association Educational Foundation to implement book clubs in the elementary school.  The “Blast Off Book Clubs” will meet once a month with the goal of reading for pleasure. Many students see reading as a chore or a means to an end to get an answer.  Pandora Gilboa wants students to see reading as a fun, enjoyable part of their school day and lives.

There will be two elementary book clubs that meet to read a book and then complete an art project during their lunch period. There will be no assignments or questions to be answered. The students will simply listen to a story and create an art project, showing reading as enjoyable and taking the stress away from reading.  

The more students read outside of their school day, the higher their reading fluency, stamina, vocabulary and visualization skills are.  The “Blast Off Book Clubs” will help foster a love for reading, leading to more success for students.

Students can earn tokens for good behavior and being named Rocket of the Month.  They will then be able to select a book from the book vending machine to take home as their reward. The OEA Innovation Grant also provided funds to put a Little Free Library into their courtyard at the front of the school, allowing families to pass on books they have outgrown and to get books into the hands of all students.  Pandora Gilboa wants their students to have a love and passion for reading that lasts them a lifetime.

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