DW’s Sixth Annual Holiday Book Drive

Update: All the books have now been purchased and the registries are 100% fulfilled! Thank you so much for your generosity, everyone!

Update #3: As of 5:30 AM, Wednesday, all by 12 books have been purchased from the teachers’ registries. Please check Alison’s and Ogo’s registries and help reach our goal of every book being purchased by the end of the day. Thanks so much for your generosity!

UPDATE #2: As of 12:30 AM (four hours after this post went up), over 160 books have been purchased from the teachers’ registries! We are over 65% to our goal of 240!

UPDATE: As of 10:30 AM (two hours after this post went up), over 70 books have been purchased from the teachers’ registries! We are about 30% to our goal of 240 (at the moment, there are only 5 registries showing because I’ve asked one teacher to update her registry with an address for the books to be sent).

Today is Giving Tuesday, which means it’s time again for one of my favorite DW traditions — our annual holiday book drive! It all started in 2012 when we had a last-minute book drive for a class in a low-income school in New Orleans. The drive was such a success that I decided to make it an annual event. Since 2012, we have gifted books to over 700 students in some of the highest poverty schools in the nation. In some cases, the books have been the only gifts these kids have received for the holidays.

This year, our most ambitious year yet, six teachers from six different schools are participating in our drive — and I hope we can continue the tradition of generosity and holiday spirit in 2017 so that 240 more kids can each get a book to take home for their very own. Learn more about this year’s participants below, and follow the links to their Amazon gift registries where you can purchase books if you’re able to. Thank you so much for your generosity — it really does make a difference!!!

Alison
“I’m an 8th grade ELA/Humanities teacher at the John J. Doran Community School in Fall River, Massachusetts. The Doran school is a family community, and often the only place where our students, many of whom are high-needs and qualify for free lunch, feel safe and loved. As we are entering the holiday season it is a time of the unknown for my students. While most children are excited about this time of year, my students often become anxious because they’re not sure what Christmas morning will bring.

Sending my students off to Christmas break with a new book to read would bring them happiness. A goal of mine is to instill a life-long love of reading in my students, and giving them books for themselves to keep forever can help achieve that goal. In an environment where they do not have much to call their own, possessing a book can make all the difference.”

Here’s Alison’s book registry.

Sheriann
“I teach third grade at a Title One school in Halifax County, NC. Much of the student population consists of high-need students, many of whom are experiencing instability in their homes and a wealth of other risk factors. My students are smart, adventurous, loving, and eager to learn; however, it has been a real task encouraging them to read. We recently started exploring some Classic Tales (The Wind in the Willows and Alice in Wonderland), and these have piqued their interest. I can just imagine how thrilled they will be to be recipients of your books and how helpful these books will be in inspiring them to read.”

Update: Sheriann’s registry has been 100% fulfilled. Thank you!! If you’d like, you can still send her an Amazon gift card to use toward building her classroom library and buying classroom supplies.

Here’s Sheriann’s book registry.

Ogo
“I am a 7th grade ELA teacher at Monument Academy Public Charter School in Northeast D.C. Monument is a residential school for high-need students, students who are experiencing homelessness or instability in their homes. It also is home to multiple foster students and other at-risk children. My students are bright, funny, engaging, curious, super smart, and loving. They squealed last year when their books arrived. Many of them read their books before bed in the Student Life homes and brought them to PE class to read instead of playing dodge-ball. I work hard to make reading fun and relevant for my students and having a community of people gift them interesting books really supported me in that end.”

Here’s Ogo’s book registry.

Cathy
“I’m a second grade teacher at a Title 1 elementary school in rural eastern North Carolina. We are in a high-poverty area and many of my students have very little reading material at home. I have a class full of energetic, eager-to-learn, enthusiastic, and caring 7- and 8-year-old students, many of whom are still struggling with reading. My goal is not only to help them learn to read but also to help them develop a love of reading. Taking home their very own books would be very exciting for my students. Any extra books I receive I would like to use to expand my classroom lending library so they would still have other books they could borrow to take home to read.”

Update: Cathy’s registry has been 100% fulfilled. Thank you!! If you’d like, you can still send her an Amazon gift card to use toward building her classroom library and buying classroom supplies.

Here’s Cathy’s book registry.

Amy
“I’m the math teacher at Mountain Valley High School in Saguache, Colorado, where we have fewer than forty students along with four teachers who love them very much. Our district is in the poorest county in Colorado for children aged 0-17. In addition to doing our best to provide love and an education for these great kids, we also provide some of our students with access to showers, clothes washing, and even food for the weekends when they are away from school.

The books they receive from this book drive may be the only gifts some of these kids receive for the holidays. When they realize that these gifts came from people all over, they will be truly touched. Thank you for supporting my kids. They mean the world to me, and your generosity will make a difference in their lives!”

Update: Amy’s registry has been 100% fulfilled. Thank you!! If you’d like, you can still send her an Amazon gift card to use toward building her classroom library and buying classroom supplies.

Here’s Amy’s book registry.

Katie
“I’m a 6th grade math and science teacher at Davis Middle School in Hillsdale, Michigan. Davis Middle School is a low-income public school. My students are bright, funny, engaging, kind, and loving. My students were so thankful and surprised last year when their books arrived. Many of them are unable to purchase books through the book orders or book fairs at the school, so this is their chance to own any book they want. My teaching partner, Jessica, and I work hard to make reading fun and relevant for our students. Having these books for each student allows for students to fall in love with reading by reading books they are interested in.”

Update: Katie’s registry has been 100% fulfilled. Thank you!! If you’d like, you can still send her an Amazon gift card to use toward building her classroom library and buying classroom supplies.

Here’s Katie’s book registry.