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EmilyDvorak HannahLo ChrisOnken PeterStevens English10 Ms.Boes 7November2013 BooksforBooks! INTRODUCTION(Emily) Everyonedoesit.Wedoiteveryday.Wedoitwithoutevenknowingwearedoingit.Without it,theworldwouldbeachangedplace.Reading.Readinghasshapedourwayoflife.Welearnitata youngage,anditstickswithusfortherestofourlives.Soifwedoitallthetime,andifweknowthat wewillcontinuetoalwaysdoit,whydontwewanttobethebestatitthatwecanpossiblybe? Practicemakesperfect,right?Buthowarewesupposedtopracticewithoutthepropermaterials?You cantpracticesoccerwithaflatsoccerball.Howcanwepracticereadingwithoutgreatbooksthatwe enjoyreading?Wecanbecomebetterreadersbymakingmorebooksavailable.Bymakingreading materialthatweenjoyreadingmoreaccessible,wecanincreasethereadinglevelsofstudentsand improvethereadingskillsofallwhotakeadvantageofthisopportunity. PROBLEM:LACKOFCLASSROOMLIBRARIES(Hannah) Booksarenotaccessibletostudentsallthetimeoreverywhereduringtheschoolday.Students cannotgrabaninteresting,uptodate/bookineachclassroomtostartreading.Teachershaveknown itforyearsthemorecontactstudentshavewithbooks,themoreproficientstudentsareinreading.

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Recentresearchinclassroomlibrariesstate,Accesstoanabundanceofbookswithintheclassroom resultsinincreasedmotivationandincreasedreadingachievement(Bridges,Lois,Ph.D."Compendium ofResearch").Therearemanybenefitsthatfollowsurroundingstudentswithbooks.Multipleteachers atourhighschoolhaveexpressedaninterestinhavingaclassroomlibrarytoencouragemorestudent reading. TheoneclassroomlibrarywedohaveatCarrollHighisMr.Polkings.Hehasavastsupplyin variousgenresofbooks.Hiscollectionofbookshavebeengraduallyaccumulatedthroughhisseven yearsofteachingatCarrollHigh.Currently,hisclassroomlibraryhasatleast900books,andthetotal costforthewholelibraryisapproximately7,000dollars(Polking).NotallteachersatCarrollHighwant aclassroomlibrary,buttheonesthatdo,lackthefundstobuildtheirown.Morethan60%ofMr. Polkingsbookshavebeenpurchasedoutofhisownpocket.Therestwereeitherdonated,purchased withgrantmoney,orsenttohimfrombookcompanies(Polking).Withouttheproperfundsor resources,otherteacherswillnotbeabletopurchasebookstosupplytheirownclassroomlibraries. SOLUTION:RAISINGMONEYTOBUYBOOKS(Emily) Throughmanyhoursofbrainstorming,throwingideasaround,gettingideasknockeddown,and rebuildingourentireprojectmultipletimes,theideaofraisingmoneyforclassroomlibrarieswasborn. Someofourpreviousideasthatdidntworkoutincludedadodgeballtournamenttoraisemoney, gettingturkeysdonatedtogivetofamiliesoverThanksgiving,andraisingmoneyforrenovationsofthe stadium.Noneoftheseideassparkedmuchinterestinourgroupmembers,whichmadethemhardto concentrateon.However,nowwecanviewallofthesetbacksasablessingbecausetheybroughtusto ourfinalidea. Intryingtothinkofawaytoraisethemoneytofillteachersshelves,wetalkedtoTamiBrandt.

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Tami,amemberofthePSC(ParentSchoolCooperative),toldusabouttheannualbookfairthatisheld atFairviewElementaryforgradeskindergartenthrougheight.Shesaidshewouldbeabletoget Scholastic,thecompanywhichprovidesthebooksforthebookfair,tosendusmorehighschoollevel books.Ifwecouldgethighschoolerstobuybooksatthebookfair,thePSCwouldgiveus50%ofthe profitsfromhighschoolpurchases.Wewereveryexcitedaboutfinallyhavingasolididea,butafter talkingwithMrs.McKenzie,wedecidedtotakeitonestepfurther.Wewantedtogetthehighschool itsownbookfair.Thiswasdecidedthisafterrealizinghighschoolstudentswouldntwanttobuybooks atabookfairforelementarykids.Therewouldbemoreofaselectionofbooksforhighschoolers,and wewouldmakemoremoney.Theobviouschoicewouldbetoholdourownbookfair,wejustneeded togetitapproved. OurgrouptalkedtoMrs.McKenzie,andshewasallfortheidea!WetalkedtoTamiagain, andaskedifshewouldbewillingtohelpuscontactScholasticsaboutgettingabookfairforthehigh school.Sheagreed,andcontactedScholastic.Scholasticsaidtheywouldsendusfivecasesofbooks, alongwithtabletopdisplays.Wewouldgetthebooksforaweek,andcouldsellthemforasmany nightsaswewanted.Wealsogettopickthedate.Thepercentageoftheprofitswegetkeeps increasingwiththemorebooksthatwesell.Thatleadsustothenextstepofdrawingpeoplein(Brant). Weconsideredmanyaspectsindecidingavenueandatimetoholdit.Wefirstwantedtohold itduringabasketballgameinthesmallcommonsbytheconcessionstandtodrawpeoplein,butruledit outbecausepeoplewouldbemorelikelytogetthebooksdirty,andwouldntwanttodealwiththe booksduringthebasketballgame.Also,peoplewouldhavetopayadmissionintothebasketballgame eveniftheywerejustcomingforthebookfair.WewantedtodoitinDecemberbeforeChristmas,so wecoulduseChristmasgiftsaspartofouradvertising,sowethoughtofothereventsthathappeninthe

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winter.Theannualwinterchorusconcertseemedtobeafittingevent.WeemailedDougSweeney,the chorusteacher,toaskifwecouldholdtheeventthen.Hesaidthatheishappytoletushaveitthen,on thesixteenthofDecember.Bysellingthebooksbeforeandaftertheshow,peoplewhowouldbe attendingtheshowwouldalreadybeatthehighschool,andpeoplewhodidn'twanttogotothe concertwouldn'thavetopaytogetin. DISTRICTREADINGGOAL(Chris) Readingisaveryessentialsubjectwhenitcomestolearning.Peoplereadeverydayandmostof themdontevenknowthattheyare.TheyreadtheirTwitterfeed,Facebookfeed,andtextmessages. Theymightnotthinkitsreading,buttheyarestillreadingthewordsandcomprehendingthemand providingfeedback.Readingisthemostimportantsubjectinschoolbecauseyouneeditforeverything youdo,sowethoughtofbuildingclassroomlibrariesforeveryclassinthehighschool.Havingbooks accessibletoallstudentswillhelpthemandourschooltocontinuelearning.Everyclassroomwouldnot onlybylimitedtothesubjectoftheclassroom,butwouldhaveavarietyofbookgenrestomeetthe interestsofeverystudent.WhenwereadforSSRinhomeroom,bookswouldbeavailablefor everyone.Bynotlimitingeachsubjectroomtobooksonlyaboutthattopic,wearemakingbooksthe ultimateaccessibility.Besides,whowantstoreadabookaboutmathanyway? Thereadingscoreshavejumpeddramaticallyoverthepastfewyearsbecausethereadinggoals ofCarrollHigharenottakenlightly.TheCarrollHighSchoolsreadinggoalsandscoresarehigherthan everbefore.Inthe20072008schoolyearforallgradesinhighschool,thescoreswereallinthe70th percentile,butthispastyearallthreegrades,9th,10th,11th,scoredinthe90thpercentile(McKenzie). Forthiscomingyear,ourCarrollHighSchoolgoalistostillstayinthe90thpercentile,butwewantto goalittlebithigherbecauseweareallimprovingourreadingskills.Ourdistrictsscoresandgoalsare

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higherthanever,also.Thedistrictsgoalforthiscomingyearis86.9percent(McKenzie).Thisislower becauseitcombinesalltheschoolsreadinggoals,butthatisstillveryhighfortheunderagedchildren. ThesegoalsareonlygoingtogethigherifwekeepbooksavailabletothestudentsoftheCarrollHigh SchoolDistrict.Butnotonlyaretheschoolsgoalsgoingtogethigher,ourpersonalgoalsaregoingto goupifwekeepreading.Wewouldsetourowngoalstohigherpercentagesineverysubjectbecause notonlyarewereading,butwearereadingaboutallschoolsubjectsandthetopicswewanttolearn. Wewanttokeepimprovingourscoresbecausewhenwedo,thestaterecognizesus,andweget incentivesandprizesfromthem.Sonotonlyarewewantingtoimproveourownscores,weare wantingtoimproveourschoolsscoresowecanbenefitfromthestate. Classroomlibrariesandhavingbooksavailabletostudentsatalltimeswouldbenefitus,the studentsandtheschool.Wewouldhavebooksinalltheclassroomssopeoplecanreadthemwhenever theywanted.Notonlywouldthishelpusimproveonourschoolsgoalsandscores,butourown personalgoalsaswell.Classroomlibrarieswouldkeepaddingknowledgetoourbrains,sowecan benefitonourtesttoimproveourscoresandgoalsinthefuture.

PROMOTIONOFTHEEVENT/ADVERTISEMENT(Peter) Thetopicofabookfairinthehighschoolissomethingthathasneverhappenedbeforeat Carroll,sostudentshaveneverheardofit.Thisbookfairwillhavetobeadvertised,soitbecomes knowntothestudentsandadultsin,andassociatedwiththeCarrollschools.Ourgroupsmaster plan,istohostabookfairatCarrollHighSchoolformiddleschoolandhighschoollevelbooksto promoteclassroomlibraries.Wearetoldthatthisisafirsttimethisideahasevercomeup,sowewant tomakeitaseffectiveandsuccessfulaswepossiblycan,soitcancontinuetobeheldinthefutureas well.

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Ourfirstobjectivetomakingthiseventsuccessful,istomakesurethatpeopleactuallyshowup totheevent,soadvertisementwillprovetobeakeyroletogetpeopleinterested.Wehavebeen informedthatScholasticwillprovidelargepostersinadditiontotheshelvesandbooksforthebookfair. Theseposterswillbeusedaspropagandaandadvertisementforthebookfair,andhungaroundthe schoolhallwaysandcommonsareas.Thesepostersarelikelytobeeffective,andwewillplacethemin themosteffectivespotsintheschool.Wealsowilltrytogetthedatesandtimesofthebookfairput ontotheschoolannouncementsthataredisplayedontheT.V.monitorduringA,B,andClunchperiods. ThebookfaircanalsobeadvertisedontheschoolswebsiteoreventhenewCCSDappthatjust becameavailableontheappstorenottoolongago.Thebookfaircouldevenbeadvertisedoutsideof schoolgrounds,withthepossibilityofamentioninthepaper,orevenaquickwordonthelocalradio station. Foreveryeventthatourschoolwantsustoparticipatein,theyseemtosetanincentive.We discussedourincentiveideaswithMrs.McKenzieandDr.Grundmeyer,andbytheendofourmeeting, wehadcomeupwithanincentive.Atfirst,wewantedtosetanincentiveofifwecouldgetacertain percentageofhighschoolerstobuybooks,wewouldberewardedafreeday.Afterourdiscussion, however,weswitchedtotheideaofgivingstudentsaticketforeverybooktheybought,whichwould thengointoaraffleforanoptoutnextsemester.Bydoingthis,itwouldnotbyrewardingthestudents whodidn'tparticipate,butitwouldbediscriminatingagainststudentswhodidnthavethefundstobuya book,rulingoutthisideaalso.Finally,wecameupwiththeideaofforeverybookboughtbyastudent, atallywouldgotothatstudentshomeroom.Thestudentsinthehomeroomwiththemosttalliesgetto puttheirnameinadrawingforanoptout.Threeoptoutswillbeawarded.Togetthisinformationout tostudentsandhomerooms,wewouldputanannouncementontheschoolTVandcreateapublic

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serviceannouncementtobeshownduringhomeroom. Theadvertisementcanalsobringinvolunteersthatwouldbewillingtohelpoutduringthebook fair,orjusttohelpwiththesettingupofthebookfairwouldbemorethanenough.Iamprettypositive thatmymomwillbemorethanwillingtovolunteer,wejustneedtoseeifanyoneelsewilldonatetheir timetohelpus. Ourgroupwouldmanagethebookfairitself,withsomehelpfromvolunteersandpeoplethat authorizethebookfair.Scholasticwillprovidethebooks,magazines,posters,andshelvesthatwillbe usedinthebookfair.MostoftheprofitsfromthebookfairwillgobacktoScholastic,butweareable toreceivebetweentwentytofiftypercentoftheprofitsthatcomefromthesalesofthebooks, dependingonhowsuccessfulthebookfairis.

CONCLUSION(Hannah) Wewanttoencouragestudentstoreadbymakingbooksmoreavailableinclassrooms. Classroomlibrarieswillmakebooksaccessiblethroughouttheschoolday.Theyhavebeenprovento increasemotivationandreadingachievementinstudents.Growinganeffective,welldesignedclassroom librarythoughrequiresalargeexpenseforteacherstofundbythemselves.Thereforenotallteachers thatdesireaclassroomlibrarypossessone.InhostingaScholasticbookfairatthehighschool,we hopetoreceiveenoughmoneyfromtheprofitstohelpfundclassroomlibraries.Inthelongrun,by CarrollHighstudentsutilizingclassroomlibraries,westrivetoimproveourindividualreadingabilities, ourdistrictreadingproficiency,andourbuildingreadingproficiency.

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WorksCited Brant,Tami.PersonalInterview.6November2013. Bridges,Lois,Ph.D."CompendiumofResearch."Scholastic.N.p.,n.d.Web. McKenzie,Tami.EmailInterview.4November2013. McKenzie,Tami.PersonalInterview.7November2013. Polking,William.PersonalInterview.6November2013.