Reading has always been an important aspect of Sandy Creek, but recently a new aspect of fun has been added to it.
Last week, SC Elementary received a book vending machine from the TeamMates Program, in conjunction with BookVending.com.
The vending machine came stocked with books on various topics, including animals, sports, unicorns, popular Disney characters, and transportation, among others.
SC Elementary Principal Joe Wiechman, who TeamMates Coordinator Brenda Searle said has been a huge help in this endeavor, said students can earn a gold coin or token to get a book.
The coins can be purchased with PBIS tickets or through CougarShouts, which are done each week. They are looking into other areas students can earn the coins, including completing a reading goal through myON, which is a reading program students can access for topics they’d like to read/ learn about.
Any books students earn are theirs to keep, so they can start to grow a library of their own.
As reading has always been a big part of her life and is something near and dear to her heart, the vending machine and the TeamMates Linked2Literacy program are something Searle is excited for kids to take part in.
The Linked2Literacy is in its second year with TeamMates and is part of the READ Nebraska program, which aims to expand mentorships throughout the State of Nebraska, to improve the reading levels of elementary students.
The goal of this program is to match a minimum of five new mentors with students who qualify for the READ Nebraska grant—students who are not quite where they should be reading-wise.
Searle said she applied for the grant and received it; the grant provides books and activities for matches participating in the program, which includes a tote full of those books and activities, as well as book bags for each student, containing six books the student gets to keep.
In terms of the vending machine, Searle and Wiechman also discussed what to do once the books run out, as they only have the books delivered with the machine.
One option was if some groups or individuals who’d like to monetarily sponsor new books, they can contact Searle or Wiechman at 402-726-2412.
They also mentioned finding kid-friendly magazines for students who don’t particularly enjoy reading books, but like magazines and/or comic books.
In total, Sandy Creek Team-Mates has 48 mentors, with 13 new mentors added this school year so far. If you’d like to be a mentor at SC, contact Searle.
Students can earn these golden coins/tokens to get a book.
A close-up of some of the books available to students.
