Fill the bus with books for children

In this digital age, there’s still something so special about holding a book in your hands and flipping through the pages as the words create a mental movie.

Reading has the ability to fill us with knowledge, inspiration and motivation. It’s also the key to countless other skills that open the doors to success and help children become contributing members of our community.

That’s why the Merced City School District has launched a reading initiative and a book drive with the goal of giving every student her or his own book to take home. The initiative is called “Aim High, Target Success.”

It is part of a district priority to help all students read proficiently by the end of third grade. Studies show that is a critical benchmark, and students who don’t reach it are at a higher risk for dropping out of school and facing many other struggles later in life, from poverty to imprisonment.

This initiative involves a multi-pronged approach with new language arts materials in our classrooms and simple steps parents can take at home to help children improve their skills, such as encouraging them to read at least 20 minutes a day and doing short timed reading drills to track progress.

We’re also seeking community support for this initiative with our “Fill the Bus” book drive.

A school bus will be parked at the corner of Main and M Streets during the Cap & Town block party from noon to 6 p.m. on Sept. 10 in downtown Merced. The overall event continues until 10 p.m. and will include live entertainment, food vendors, and activities to celebrate academic excellence.

Residents are invited to stop by and drop off new or gently used books that will later be sorted and sent home with our students. For those who would like to help but can’t make it downtown on that day, we also have collection boxes in place in three locations through Sept. 9. They are:

▪  MCSD District Office, 444 W. 23rd St., Suite B

▪  Merced Civic Center (first floor lobby), 678 W. 18th St.

▪  Paul’s Place, 2991 G St.

Since we began doing outreach for this initiative, I’ve already been blown away by the response.

One member of Merced Sunrise Rotary donated several bins full of books, and more than a dozen members of that organization have volunteered to help during Cap & Town. Local high school students also offered to hold their own book drive to support this effort, and other individuals have expressed interest as well.

It’s encouraging to see how many people support our students, and we look forward to working with all of you to hit this target together.

This story was originally published August 26, 2016 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Fill the bus with books for children."