Three tables set up on a stage in the school's cafeteria were piled high with books donated by students and teachers. Students moved in lines by the tables, digging through the books and excitedly reading aloud to each other, eventually choosing their favorite. They then sat in the cafeteria, eating ice cream and reading.
About 1,100 books were collected, plenty to allow each student a free book, with hundreds left over for local charities. According to Americorps volunteer Kim Markham, 196 students and five teachers donated to the drive.
Americorps tutors Markham, Shameeka Shepherd and Mary Absher helped guide the young children through the books and handed out pencils on Tuesday, April 5. They also handed certificates and ribbons to children who donated 20 or more books. Volunteer Stacy Craft helped organize and conduct the book drive, but was unable to attend the ice cream time book swap.
Book drives for local charities have always been conducted by Americorps tutors, said Sue Graham, director of the Mountain Empire Community College Americorps program, in a recent telephone interview. However, this year some creative tutors at Fort Blackmore Elementary School decided that expanding the event to include a book swap would help the children in need at local charities and the children they tutor at school.
After a successful book drive that yielded 350 books from about 85 students, the Fort Blackmore team, April McNew, Laurie Brickey and Mary Beth Rhoton, presented their idea to other Americorps teams. MECC Americorps has tutoring teams in 13 schools, including Wise Primary, Appalachia Elementary and Powell Valley Primary schools, as well as elementary schools in Scott, Lee and Dickenson counties and the city of Norton, Graham said.
Tutors at Wise Primary have helped with a book swap, too, while Powell Valley Primary volunteers have not yet had a book drive.
The Appalachia team "really took the idea and ran with it," Graham said.
Markham said the free books will especially help students who may not have books at home. Reading at home, she said, helps students in reading class at school.
The main focus of the MECC Americorps team is literacy tutoring for children in kindergarten through third grade, Graham explained. Americorps students visit the school they are assigned to most days, tutoring individual students or small groups who would benefit from extra reading help.
Helping students is only part of an Americorps volunteer's duties. To complete the program, a volunteer must perform 900 hours of service. Direct interaction with children, such as tutoring, makes up 720 hours, while 180 hours are spent in training or community service. Volunteers participate in projects related to literacy, like the Imagination Library effort in Wise County, and also in physical projects, like planting a garden for Powell Valley Primary or helping with Habitat for Humanity house building.
Markham, Absher and Shepherd agreed that the Americorps program is a very rewarding way to help out and get training while still in school. Markham and Shepherd both plan to teach elementary school when they graduate from MECC. Absher, who studies photography and various other subjects, says she's not sure what she will do after graduation, but enjoys the experience she's getting through Americorps.
Hugs, grins and conversations with students made it apparent that Appalachia Elementary children appreciate the Americorps volunteers as much as they enjoy being there.
